Francisco Barquero, WCCN's Loan Fund Representative in Nicaragua,
is a native Nicaraguan whose background includes experience in some
of the poorest communities in Nicaragua, working on grassroots development
and adult education grounded in the popular methods of Brazilian
educator Paolo Freire. From 1984-88, he worked with the Nicaraguan
Ministry of Agriculture. In the early 1990s, he obtained a master's
degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in agricultural
extension and rural development, and completed his Ph.D.in 2002
from the UW-Madison in economic development with a specialization
in microfinance. Since 1994 he has worked closely with rural cooperatives
in Nicaragua to help them develop a more sustainable business management
methodology, thanks in part to a grant awarded in 1995 by the Inter-American
Foundation.
