[{"bbox": [71, 103, 1160, 527], "category": "Text", "text": "Nicaragua as a country aims to increase the proportion of fermented and certified cocoa it produces. The Overall Objective (Impact) of this action is to help recover the economic dynamism, environmental sustainability and climate resilience of the cocoa value chain in Nicaragua. The Specific Objective (Outcome) of this action is to develop and transform the cocoa value chain in Nicaragua along quality and environmental standards, and climate resilience with the engagement of populations living in vulnerable situations, particularly women and youth (women and men) and indigenous and afro descendant communities in rural areas.. The proposed action will focus on (i) Strengthening the capacities of small and medium cocoa producers for environmental sustainability and better productivity through incentives for renewing, rehabilitating and increasing their plantations through training, technological innovation and improvement of genetic base material (ii) Strengthening capacities for cocoa processing, circular economy and business management, for post-harvest management, transformation, and business management, and (iii) Promoting deforestation-free supply chains and developing a product traceability system for smallholder women and men farmers. All activities will target women and youth, particularly those located in rural areas, as well as indigenous and afro descendant communities. The action will benefit the cocoa sector, which includes 10,200 small producers and their families, and is linked to 23,000 direct jobs. Cocoa production in Nicaragua is concentrated in three key geographical clusters: the North Caribbean Autonomous Region (RACCN), the axis Matagalpa -Jinotega - Waslala, and the axis El Rama - Río San Juan."}, {"bbox": [71, 554, 1160, 848], "category": "Text", "text": "The proposed action - NICACAO - is part of the TEI Green Recovery, Priority Area 3: Resilient agriculture/Support to modernisation and climate sensitive value chains with potential for transformation and economic development. It identifies support to green value chains as a vehicle for achieving both objectives. Switzerland is already active in this field and Spain has confirmed its participation in the development and implementation of this action. The action is well-integrated in the priorities of the MIP 2021 – 2027: it falls mostly under priority 2- “Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth” while also contributing to priority 1- “Climate change adaptation/mitigation”. In response to the acute economic crisis currently affecting the country, it will enable the EU to advance human development priorities and target inequalities by working with groups living in the most vulnerable situations, namely rural indigenous and afro descendant women and youth, in the least developed areas of the country. Considering the current challenging socio-political context, the action will seek to work directly with civil society and the private sector, while creating the foundations for possible guarantees/blending interventions in the medium/long term if circumstances allow."}, {"bbox": [71, 873, 1160, 1007], "category": "Text", "text": "NICACAO is aligned with the new European Consensus on Development specifically with the priorities of protecting the environment, managing natural resources and tackling climate change and inclusive and sustainable growth and jobs. It will contribute mainly to the SDG 2 – achieve food security and promote sustainable agriculture (2.3, 2.4), and to other SDGs 1, 5, 8 (8.4), 9, 12, 13 and 15. It contributes to the Gender Action Plan III (2021-2025), especially to the thematic objective “Addressing the challenges and harnessing the opportunities offered by the green transition”."}, {"bbox": [71, 1058, 302, 1092], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2. RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [109, 1122, 243, 1150], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### 2.1. Context"}, {"bbox": [71, 1164, 1160, 1378], "category": "Text", "text": "Nicaragua has faced three consecutive years of economic contraction, however, the most recent projections indicate that 2021 will be a positive growth year². The socio-political crisis sustained since 2018 has had a strong impact on the economy, reducing formal jobs and increasing migration flows. In 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic deepened the crisis further, and during this time, agriculture, mining and remittances remained the key motors of the economy. 2021 is an electoral year, and all indications suggest that the government will seek to consolidate its authoritarian hold on power, through a series of legal and electoral reforms as well as repression at all levels. EU and Member States will need to adapt their development cooperation portfolios to the different post-election scenarios. In this context, a high degree of flexibility will be required to take advantage of potential opportunities and/or to respond to possible crises."}, {"bbox": [71, 1403, 1160, 1537], "category": "Text", "text": "Following years of democratic and governance decline, the protests of April 2018 and the Government's heavy-handed response triggered a violent socio-political crisis that laid bare what had been a gradual build-up of the population's grievances. The confrontations brought to the front the authorities' definitive shift towards authoritarianism, characterised by an unprecedented escalation of repression. The crisis had and continues to have significant economic repercussions for all, and particularly the Nicaraguans living in the most vulnerable situations."}, {"bbox": [71, 1637, 856, 1663], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² CEPAL by July 2021 projects a positive growth in about 2.0 % for 2021 and 1.8 % for 2022."}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1159, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 22"}]