Indigenous women take the lead to improve food security in their Costa Rican communities

Her house was quiet when suddenly Petronila Ríos heard a sharp beep. A message appeared on her phone: Nila, I need four fresh chickens for today. Nila, as she is known by her community, smiled. Her updated status on social networks had paid off: customers had started placing their orders for the day.

Just a few years before, Nila had begun her business of selling chickens in the Indigenous Peoples’ territory of China Kichá in southern Costa Rica, where a part of the Cabécar people have lived for more than 3 000 years. This land has been at the heart of their culture and language, and they have preserved it carefully, maintaining a strong and reverential relationship with nature.

Proud of her land and community, Nila has always looked for new ways to contribute to its development.  An opportunity arose when FAO, the United Nations Development Program, the International Labor Organization and UN Women implemented a joint programme called Strengthening the bridge to development strategy to break the cycle of poverty at the local level with a gender and environmental approach in her area. Nila worked hard to get involved in the programme and obtain the capital that allowed her to start a chicken farm.

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