The Communities

SWT develops its projects in the communities of Sabana Grade and Santo Domingo in the municipality of Totoglapa, department of Madriz. At the national level, the municipality of Totogalpa is the second poorest in the country. 80% of the population obtain their only source of income from agricultural activities, primarily from the planting of basic grains. Work in the fields varies in nature according to the season and weather conditions resulting in high unemployment rates in the community, especially in the summer.

The municipality of Totogalpa is located in the northwest of the Republic of Nicaragua. The climate is of a Tropical Savannah with a high vulnerability to dry spells. Totogalpa has some of the lowest precipitation in the country, with rainfall between 800 and 1,000 mm per year. At the same time the area enjoys solar radiation of an average of 5KWh/m2/day. The temperature varies between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.

One of the greatest problems in the area is deforestation. It causes scarcity of water sources, especially for rural areas where people have to walk long distances in search for water during summer. Due to mismanagement and indiscriminate cutting, 80% of trees native to the area have been lost provoking the appearance of plants that are typical to desert regions. The problem of deforestation has been extending throughout the country. Between 1990 and 2005 Nicaragua lost 21% of its forests with 97% of national consumption going towards cooking and electrification.

Even with the appearance of the detrimental effects of deforestation, 93.1% of the inhabitants of the area use wood-burning stoves to cook. The majority of the stoves are located inside the homes where they negatively affect the health of the family. The effects of cooking in this manner are the same as smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, making respiratory infections the main cause of morbidity in the municipality. Moreover, because women and children are primarily responsible for cooking, they are disproportionately affected by health problems caused by the use of wood-burning stoves.