Resiliencia a las sequías en una agricultura minifundista: aproximación a factores socioculturales

Nicaragua is vulnerable to drought due to its geographical location in the Central American dry corridor. This condition negatively impacts the agricultural sector, which is the main livelihood of the population living in that area. Among the effects are the loss of traditional crops and biodiversity, reduction of water sources, low soil fertility, and migration. In this regard, external agencies have introduced modern practices and technologies aimed at strengthening the community resilience of small farmers to frequent droughts, paying little attention to the sociocultural factors that have shaped the current resilience throughout its history, putting at risk the success of such interventions. Therefore, this research aimed to examine the influence of sociocultural factors on community resilience manifested by small farmers in the Nicaraguan dry corridor in the face of drought events. In order to respond to this objective, the actor-oriented approach is adopted to explain community resilience to drought in an area where the actions of different actors converge. In turn, a qualitative approach is adopted based on an explanatory case study located in the municipality of Totogalpa within the Nicaraguan dry corridor. Participatory techniques such as interviews, participant observation, workshops and focus groups were used to gather information, with the participation of small farmers and representatives of external agencies.