RESUMO
PIP: Over 1/2 of Nicaragua's population lives in the Pacific Plains where cotton has been grown intensively for 40 years. This single-crop economy has led to massive deforestation, wind and water erosion has affected the soil, and extensive use of pesticides has deposited excessive amounts of DDT in the breast milk of nursing mothers. After the downfall of the Somoza dictatorship the subsequent agrarian reform has been hampered by lack of information and training on sustainable methods of farming. The Pikin Guerrero project is a sustainable development experiment involving 2200 peasant families jointly run by the Nicaraguan Institute for Natural Resources and the Environment (IRENA) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The farmers grow corn and beans while exhausting the area's natural resources through forest clearing with the result of spreading erosion of fragile soils. 400 farmers have reshaped their production systems with the help of experts. Annual crops have become more diverse: yucca, 10 varieties of bean, 3 of pineapple, and 4 of corn, plus coffee, mango, bananas, and avocado. Soil conservation practices have been introduced, and farmers have built terraces. The initial pilot project comprised 5000 hectares, it is being expanded to cover another 10,000 hectares. The introduction of family planning to the local people is the next undertaking.^ieng