With the aim of exploring possible reasons for dangerous work practices among small-scale farmers in the Pacific plain of Nicaragua, a qualitative study was performed. Four focus groups were involved. The information gathered was analyzed with an emphasis on the farmers' relationships to and perspectives on their crops, the economy, pests, and pesticide hazards. Factors that had been anticipated, such as poverty, inadequacy of protective devices, and environmental factors, were found to lead to dangerous work practices. Cultural factors also affected the farmers' attitudes in ways that favored hazardous work procedures. This finding, which had not been anticipated, has important practical implications. It suggests that, to be effective, education and training courses on occupational health should assure that their design, language, materials, and execution are culturally relevant and appropriate.

Adolescent↗

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Experiences from long-term research cooperation between Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, and Swedish institutions.

This paper summarizes experiences from long-term ongoing cooperation between Swedish research institutions and institutions at the National Universities in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 24 researchers and teachers from the Central American institutions and ten Swedish research students have been trained. In addition to three full doctoral and three licentiate (two-year PhD program) theses, the two programs have so far published 15 articles in English-language, international, refereed journals and about three times as many abstracts for conferences in more than ten countries. A "sandwich" model for training is recommended, where the southern researchers come to the wealthier partner for collaborative analyses and write-ups of the publications, while spending 50-75% of their time in their home countries for data collection. Such collaboration should be planned for a time span of at least eight years and include substantial numbers of researchers and students. Means to minimize the risk of brain drain are suggested. The collaboration has been important for the globalization of the research cultures at the participating institutions and has trained international experts.

Costa Rica↗