History of UCA San Ramón

In 1990, peasant organizers united with UNAG (the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers) and created the UCA San Ramón. The UCA San Ramón initially provided legal and political support as indigenous peasants in San Ramón, Matagalpa sought to defend the lands they had gained during the agrarian reforms from 1981-1989. During the 1990s, the UCA San Ramón developed a diversified business model that provided credit and commercialization services for their members’ coffee, corn, beans and dairy products. This hybrid social development and agricultural business model uses the market to improve the well-being of disadvantaged small-scale producers in the region. The UCA San Ramón also developed programs which provided technical agricultural assistance, rural housing and support for gender equity among the members. Membership grew throughout the 1990s, expanding from approximately 450 farmer households and eight local cooperatives to include 21 affiliated cooperatives, which represented more than 1000 members. In 1995, the UCA San Ramón started exporting Fair Trade certified coffee to European alternative trade organizations.