This research explores the life of coffee-pickers in the Northern Region of Nicaragua.
This group is an important workforce for the agricultural industry in Nicaragua, which is the
main industry of the country’s economy. The focal point is their life experience as migrant labor
being the primary research purpose is to provide an in-depth explanation about the labor
migration phenomenon that is given during the coffee harvesting in Nicaragua. The reasons why
these labors migrate, how is the migration experience and what are difficulties of the process,
were explored. For the migration process, the pull and push theory was used as theoretical
framework to analyze the influence it has on the coffee-pickers decisions to migrate. Notable
challenges faced by these migrant labors as employees have been identified therefore the
compliance of the labor employment practices code laws as well as the coffee harvesting
employment regulations from the employers side were investigated, issues such as salary
compliance, child labor in the workplace, accommodation, health security have been addressed.
Qualitative techniques are the main method of inquiry; previous observation has been conducted
by the researcher. For data collection the triangulation method has been used in order to gather
different perspectives about this issue from three important sources. 10 experts and 6 employers
have been in depth interviewed to collect data about coffee pickers’ migration process. In order
to collect data from the 50 employees’ that were part of sample, a structured interview was
conducted. The review of documentation has also been a vital source of information that helped
the researcher to have a better understanding of the research topic and about this particular
workforce. The results obtained have direct implications on the public sector and the role it plays
in the coffee production, as well on the employers and their management of migrant workers and
finally and most important for employees as an opportunity to express their satisfaction as coffee
pickers and the law compliance from the employers.

This research explores the life of coffee-pickers in the Northern Region of Nicaragua.
This group is an important workforce for the agricultural industry in Nicaragua, which is the
main industry of the country’s economy. The focal point is their life experience as migrant labor
being the primary research purpose is to provide an in-depth explanation about the labor
migration phenomenon that is given during the coffee harvesting in Nicaragua. The reasons why
these labors migrate, how is the migration experience and what are difficulties of the process,
were explored. For the migration process, the pull and push theory was used as theoretical
framework to analyze the influence it has on the coffee-pickers decisions to migrate. Notable
challenges faced by these migrant labors as employees have been identified therefore the
compliance of the labor employment practices code laws as well as the coffee harvesting
employment regulations from the employers side were investigated, issues such as salary
compliance, child labor in the workplace, accommodation, health security have been addressed.
Qualitative techniques are the main method of inquiry; previous observation has been conducted
by the researcher. For data collection the triangulation method has been used in order to gather
different perspectives about this issue from three important sources. 10 experts and 6 employers
have been in depth interviewed to collect data about coffee pickers’ migration process. In order
to collect data from the 50 employees’ that were part of sample, a structured interview was
conducted. The review of documentation has also been a vital source of information that helped
the researcher to have a better understanding of the research topic and about this particular
workforce. The results obtained have direct implications on the public sector and the role it plays
in the coffee production, as well on the employers and their management of migrant workers and
finally and most important for employees as an opportunity to express their satisfaction as coffee
pickers and the law compliance from the employers.

References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American
psychological association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Bacon, C. (2005). Confronting the coffee crisis: can fair trade, organic, and specialty coffees
reduce small-scale farmer vulnerability in northern Nicaragua? E-Journal ScienceDirect ,
33(3), 497–511. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.10.002
Baskerville, P. (2012, March 10). What everyone should know about coffee. Retrieved from
http://www.quora.com/Peter-Baskerville
Bell, J. (2002). Doing your research project : A guide for first-time researchers in education and
social science. (3rd. ed.).Great Britain: St. Edmundsbury Press Ltd.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research
Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Canales, G. (2012, October 10). Trabajadores quieren C$40 por lata de café . [Employers want
C$40 per coffee lata] La prensa Nicaragua.
Cholewinski, R. (2005, March). Protecting migrant workers in globalized world. Migration
Information Source. Retrieved from Migration Policy Institute
http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=293
Coffee production in Nicaragua. (2011, November 18). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 08:19, November 17, 2012, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coffee_production_in_Nicaragua&oldid=461228
742
Cornelius, W. (1989). Mexican migration to the United States. Origins, consequences, and policy
options. Center for U.S. -Mexican Relations, University of California.
De Lima, P., & Wright, S. (2009). Welcoming migrants? Migrant labour in rural Scotland .
Crambridge Journals. 8(3) 391-404, doi:10.1017/S1474746409004941
Dey, I. (1993). Qualitative Data Analysis: A User-friendly guide for Social Scientists. New York:
Routledge.
Duryea, S., Arends-Kuenning, M.P. (2003). School attendance, child labor, and local labor
markets in urban Brazil. World Development, 31, 1165–1178. Retrieved from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VC6-48NX3SS-
2/2/4b875c480861829397801f9c69420e76
Equal Exchange . (n.d.). Equal exchange fair traded. Retrieved from Equal Exchange website :
www.equalexchange.co
90
Economics of coffee. (2012, September 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved
11:48, November 4, 2012, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Economics_of_coffee&oldid=514480510
Griffin, M. (n.d.). Harvesting Coffee beans. Coffee Research Institute. Retrieved from:
http://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/harvesting.htm
Goldschein, E. (2011, May). 11 incredible facts about the global coffee industry. Business
insiders. Retrieved from : http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-the-coffee-industry-
2011-11?op=1#ixzz2BFrYPH7q
Haworth, E. (2012, March 20 ). Coffeegeek. Retrieved from http://www.coffeegeek.com
Haberfeld, F., Menaria, R., Sahoo, B. B., & Vyas, R. N. (1999). Seasonal migration of rural labor
in India. Population Research and Policy Review,18(5) 473-489
Halfacre-Hitchcock, A., McCarthy, D., Burkett, T., & Carvajal, A. (2006). Latino migrant
farmworkers in Lowcountry South Carolina: A demographic profile and examination.
Human organization ,65(1) 55-71
Human migration. (2012, November 17). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:18,
November 19, 2012, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_migration&oldid=523528520
Ibarra A. , E. (2012, February, 6). Cafetaleros obligados a pagar más cortadores. [Coffee
farmowners are obligated to pay higher salaries to coffee-pickers] Correo para Ciegos.
Managua,Nicaragua. Retrieved from: http://www.correoparaciegos.com/cafetalerosobligados-
a-pagar-mas-cortadores-n56.html
Kruger, D. (2004). Coffee production effects on Child labor and Schooling in rural Brazil.
Journal of Development Economics, 82,448-462. Retrieved from:
//www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VBV-4K7NHTF-
2/2/72836b81b61f90dfb4229785e2b5dbff
Luetchford, P. (2008). The Hands that pick fair trade coffe:Beyond the charms of the family farm.
Emerald, 28, 143-169, doi: /10.1016/S0190-1281(08)28007-8
McRae, R. (2003). The Role of Agriculture in the World Trading System. Presented at the of 15th
The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council General Meeting, Brunnei, Darussalam.
Merriam, S. (2002). Introduction to qualitative research. In S. Merriam & Associates,
Qualitative Research in Practice. (pp. 3-17). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Migrant. (2012). In Merriam-Webster´s online dictionary. Retrieved on November 17, 2012
from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/migrant
91
Mertens, D. (2005). Research methods in education and psychology . (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks,
California. SAGE.
Muñiz O., Li W., & Schleicher Y. (March, 2011). Migration Conceptual Framework: Why do
people move to work in another place or country? AAG Center for Global Geography
Education. Retrieved from:
http://cgge.aag.org/Migration1e/ConceptualFramework_Jan10/ConceptualFramework_Jan1
0_print.html
Navas, L. (2011, October 13).Pago a cortadores seguirá en C$27 [Coffe-pickers salary will
remain in C$27] La Prensa .
Parra-Cardona, J., Bulock, L. A., Imig, D. R., Villarruel, F. A., & Gold, S.J.(2006). "Trabajando
duro todos los días": Learning from the life experiences of mexican-origin migrant families.
Family Relations, 55(3), 361-375. Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/213933397?accountid=14228
Parrado, E., & Cerrutti, M. (2003). Labor migration between developing countries: The case of
Paraguay and Argentina. The International Migration Review; 37 (1) 101-132,
doi: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2003.tb00131.x
Patton, M. (2001). Qualitative research & evaluation method (3rd. edition). Sage Publications
(California, UK, New Delhi).
Ray, R. (2000). Analysis of child labor in Peru and Pakistan: A comparative study. Journal
Popular Economy, 13, 3-19. Retrieved from:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s001480050119?LI=true
Rust, G. (1990). Health status of migrant farmworkers: A literature review and commentary. The
Journal of Economics Perspectives, 80(10) 1213-1217. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.80.10.1213
The Institute for Scientific information on Coffee. (n.d) . Coffee Production Today. Retrieved
from: http://www.coffeeandhealth.org/all-about-coffee/coffee-production-today/
Thorkbecke E. (1970). The role of agriculture in economic development, The Role of Agriculture
in Economic Development Volume (pp. 1-12) Retrieved from
http://www.nber.org/chapters/c3360
Vakis, R., Kruger, D., & Mason, A. (2004). Shocks and coffee: Lessons from Nicaragua . Social
Protection Discussion Paper Series . World Bank. Retrieved from: http://wwwwds.
worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/10/12/000012009_
20041012100727/Rendered/PDF/301640PAPER0SP00415.pdf
92
Wahba J. (2006). The influence of market wages and parental history on child labor and
Schooling in Egypt, The Journal of Economic perspectives, 19, 824-851, doi:
10.1007/s00148-005-0014-2