Towards a social movement of farmer innovation: Campesino a Campesino

The "Campesino a Campesino" (CaC) or Farmer-to-Farmer programme was founded in Nicaragua in 1987 by the National Farmers and Cattle Ranchers Union (UNAG). It started with exchange visits between farmers from Nicaragua and Mexico in order to promote and diffuse appropriate technologies among poor farmers. The programme sought to improve soil fertility, productivity and living standards, while reducing production costs and external dependency. Farmer promoters were the key elements in the CaC approach including farmers as volunteers to conduct experiments in their own fields and share their knowledge and experience with others.