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    1st November 2011:  One day to make a difference   

    Seven days to live off less   

The final challenge for our sixth birthday celebrations is not for the faint hearted!  When we first suggested that an alternative way to give would be to live off £1 ($1.50) for a day and send us the difference, some suggested that this was too easy!  So our challenge is:

Can you feed yourself for less for a whole week?

The perceptive among you will realise that this challenge is not just about raising funds but also about raising awareness.  Nicaragua is the poorest country in Latin America (according to the latest UN statistics) and Nuevas Esperanzas works with some of the poorest people in Nicaragua.  Over 45% of the population lives below the national poverty line and over 15% lives on less than $1.25 (78 pence) per day.  As a result of the recent heavy rains which have devastated crops two months before harvest, it is possible that many of the rural families we work alongside will be having to survive on even less.

But isn't the cost of living much less in Nicaragua?

This is a really good question and it is one which has got our brains (and our calculators) working over the last few weeks.  You might be surprised by what we found out.

Of course the cost of living is higher in the UK if you take into account your rent or mortgage payment.  Property in Nicaragua is relatively cheap and certain services definitely cost less.  But what about food?  Whilst it is true that most low income households in the UK spend more on their food than low income households in Nicaragua, it does not necessarily mean that the food is actually cheaper. 

Take rice, for example.  Based on today’s prices, a kilo of ‘value’ long grain rice costs 35 pence ($0.56) in a well-known UK supermarket.  On the market in Nicaragua, a pound of the cheapest long grain rice costs 9 córdobas, equivalent to 54 pence ($0.87) per kilo.  This is particularly shocking because Nicaragua is a rice producing nation and the UK is not.  This situation exists because of a huge injustice in international trade.  Agricultural subsidies which support rice producers in countries like the US ensure that developing world producers are not able to compete on international markets.  At the moment, the price of rice imported from the US and sold in Nicaragua is kept high by Nicaraguan import duties.  This ensures that Nicaraguan rice producers are at least able to sell to the domestic market.  However, under the Central American Free Trade Agreement, these import duties may have to be abolished which would put Nicaraguan rice production out of business, forcing the country to become dependent on imports for one of its staple crops.  You can read more about this in an excellent Oxfam briefing paper on the subject.

So how much does it really cost to feed yourself in the UK compared with a country like Nicaragua?

Direct comparisons are difficult to make because of the significant cultural differences in diet but, just out of interest, we thought we would see how much it would cost to prepare Nicaragua’s most famous meal of ‘gallo pinto’ (rice and beans) with a fried egg on top in the UK.

We’ve already compared rice, so what about the beans?  This is where Nicaragua fares a little better.  Red beans are the main cash crop of most of the farmers with whom we work and levels of production are high.  Processing costs are small and the beans are sold loose, without packaging.  In the UK, the cheapest beans would be tinned red kidney beans in water.  A 400g tin of ‘value’ beans from a supermarket in the UK costs 15 pence ($0.24).  In terms of nutrition, this is equivalent to around 86g of dried beans in Nicaragua which would cost around 6 pence ($0.09).  And the eggs?  This time the UK is cheaper.  A box of 15 eggs from the UK supermarket will cost you £1.25 ($2.00) whilst in Nicaragua the same number will cost you £1.36 ($2.18).

After crunching all the numbers, we reckon that a plate of rice and beans with an egg on top would cost around 29 pence ($0.46) in the UK.  In Nicaragua, it would cost around 20 pence ($0.32) which is not a lot less, especially when you consider where the produce is grown.

So you could probably feed yourself in the UK for only a little more than it would cost to feed yourself in Nicaragua, but your choice would be limited to ‘value’ brands.  Your diet would be boring and repetitive, without fresh fruit and vegetables, just like it is for many people in Nicaragua.  This is one of the reasons behind our family gardens project in which we are trying to make vegetable production accessible to low income families.

So will you take on this challenge?  This is not about feeling guilty or punishing yourself for injustices in world trade systems.  But by facing up to the real challenge of trying to live off less you may be able to appreciate something of the daily struggle faced by the people with whom we work.  So cook up some gallo pinto (for breakfast, lunch and dinner) and experience first-hand how far £1 a day will get you!   Buen provecho!

Nuevas Esperanzas UK is a registered charity in the UK (No. 1116109) and is also registered in Nicaragua as an international NGO (No. 3537).

Nuevas Esperanzas US is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit organization in the United States.