With your support, the future...

Approximately 65% of Nicaraguans are poor and 85% are deemed extremely poor. In this reality, it is very difficult to expect economic growth and vibrancy. This is especially true when the food that people eat is deficient in nutrients and leads to poor health. This is not an uncommon reality among indigenous people whose resources are depleted over generations.

By focussing on healing the land by engaging people in sustainable farm practices leading to greater personal health outcomes, our purpose serves several outcomes:

• The people will be empowered to greatly improve their own health
• Our collective efforts will produce efficiencies in nutritional farm practices.

• Ultimately rural communities will be capable of serving a wider market for their organic farm products and they will be capable of managing healthy lifestyles.

El Tambo is a traditional rural farming community in Nicaragua where 82 families (576 people) live. Four sustenance, low market-value crops are grown: rice, beans, corn, and plantains. These crops are grown and harvested once a year using soil damaging chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and land compacting tilling practices.

Nicaragua’s climate change experience—now five years of drought and shortened rainy season—has caused a serious problem for small-scale rural farmers in the Tola region. Water has become increasingly scarce and wells are not replenished during the wet season. Farming livelihoods are at risk.

MESA Sostenible will grow a wide variety of produce using a permaculture model that will demonstrate how nutritious organic food can be grown year-round without the use of soil tilling and agricultural chemicals. Permaculture practices build up the soil profile, add nutrients to the soil, create a welcome environment for beneficial insects and utilizes and sequesters water in substantially efficient ways. Drought is no threat to healthy permaculture farms and chemicals are not required.

The community of El Tambo is committed to a sustainable vision for growing healthy food, promoting economic development and protecting the environment.

MESA Sostenible will serve as a role-model for rural communities throughout Nicaragua. 

The hands-on education program will include two main areas:

• Sustainable farming education will be centered around a permaculture model using a wide variety of nutritious crops without the use of chemicals. 
• Hands on cooking lessons will utilize organic produce grown on the farm to teach healthy food preparation techniques and vital nutrition education.

Our personal savings helped us reach the initial milestones of securing land in El Tabi. We have worked to research and grow various plant varieties and saplings from seed in two small greenhouses and began a composting initiative that will serve to reduce waste and promote soil health. Extensive community and local business consultation have enabled us to develop a cohesive vision and hands-on delivery strategy for MESA Sostenible.

Select a perk to support El Tambo!

Your support will allow us to build MESA Sostenible - Sustainable Farm and Nutrition Kitchen - where the local community and visitors will be able to participate in a unique and memorable educational experience in sustainable farming, living and healthy food preparation.

Our economic model aims to use this one-time assistance to plant the seeds of long-term financial sustainability in the community. In addition, the funds from visitors who come for the experience will feed back into the education program.

MESA Sostenible aims to have the following measurable impacts: 

• Sustainable GROWing practices in the community will reduce malnutrition by producing a wide variety of healthy organic crops year round.
• Hands-on COOKing lessons will ensure the maximum nutritional value of produce is maintained during consumption by teaching healthy and appropriate preparation methods. 
• The community cooperative will SELL locally grown organic produce to nearby resorts, residents, and tourists. This will increase economic opportunities for local growers and create more jobs due to the current high demand for organic produce. 

We are Cade and Ron—the founders of MESA Sostenible — an Aussie and an American, respectively, who have a passion for sustainability, food and giving back.

For the past several years, our work in food and hospitality found us in different parts of the world working on private yachts. Over time, we began to feel ourselves being pulled away from life onboard and towards one rooted in land and community. We left our comfort zone, sold everything we owned and moved to Nicaragua, an area we fell in love with during our travels.

With backgrounds in cooking, nutrition and permaculture design, we found ourselves wanting to impart our skills onto others who could use them to build healthy communities.

We’re excited to partner with local farmer Lenner Mora, who will serve as MESA Sostenible’s farm manager and permaculture community educator.

We are proud to have these important local partnerships. Our dynamic team has the extensive skills and experience necessary to successfully establish MESA Sostenible in El Tambo.

The goal is to raise $95,000 in funds to bring the MESA Sostenible Sustainable Farm and Nutrition Kitchen to life. Here is where the funds will be allocated.

All support raised will go towards education materials, farm equipment, plants, livestock, construction and the nutrition kitchen for El Tambo.

You can back MESA Sostenible with support of any amount. Simply click the Back It button at the top of the page. Thank you!

Other ways you can act:

• SHARE: Facebook, Twitter - use the social icons at the top right 
• SHOW your family and friends, encourage them to help fund us.
• EMAIL to five friends, show them you care. Click here.
• VISIT our website to learn more about our work.

Thank you for your support!

Thank you for your generous products and services. We could not have done it without you. 

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Q: What is MESA Sostenible's revenue model?

A: Nicaragua's tourism industry is steadily growing - INTUR Visitors and travelers to MESA Sostenible can participate in hands-on learning in permaculture, farm to table cooking lessons and dining experiences. These revenue streams will directly fund the community education program.

Q: Can I visit or stay at MESA Sostenible?

A: You are welcome to come to the hands-on classes and dining events on the farm. In the future, we hope to have accommodation and offer a farm stay experience. 

Q: Is Nicaragua Safe to visit?

A: Yes, Nicaragua ranks 69th on the Global Peace Index. It is the safest and most peaceful country in Central America. Source: GPI 2016.

Source:  International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank (Washington, United States of America). Agriculture in Nicaragua: Performance, Challenges, and Options; 2015 Nov.