Seven agricultural cooperatives in the departments of Chimaltenango and Chiquimula, Guatemala, were supported by Wakami, Dalberg, and Pro Mujer through the project “Transforming Regenerative Agriculture Entrepreneurship” (TRAE), aimed at enhancing the well-being of their communities.
In Guatemala, the agricultural sector is a fundamental economic pillar, contributing 25% to the GDP and generating 60% of employment (OAS). For this reason, ARGIDIUS and USAID/Master Card made a donation to the named organizations to provide support, mentorship, and access to capital to each of the cooperatives producing coffee, cocoa, corn, rice, potatoes; as well as textiles and handmade products.
TRAE aims to outline improvement scenarios that include income diversification, access to higher productivity markets, and the integration of more sustainable production practices to strengthen their climate resilience. To ensure the effectiveness of this advisory process, it was based on three principles: awareness of each cooperative’s diversity, conditions, and ambitions; a holistic understanding of their situation; and the combination of expert knowledge with that of the participants.
Thus, the organizations and cooperatives have advanced through the initial phases of the project, which consists of three components: Ecosystem and value chain analysis, strengthening of productive initiatives, and financial education and access to financing.
What has been achieved so far with TRAE?
The first action taken was a thorough diagnosis to determine the maturity status of the cooperatives in three interrelated components: Economic, environmental, and social. The purpose of this evaluation was to understand in greater detail the existing opportunities for each cooperative and to define a series of best practices and improvement goals to help them achieve the highest possible maturity level.
Overall, all cooperatives are at intermediate maturity levels in the three evaluated components. However, the environmental component showed the greatest opportunities for improvement. Regarding the social component, the study determined that three of these cooperatives are at an advanced maturity level, indicating that they have incorporated good practices such as:
- Having a high percentage of women, young people, and indigenous populations in both membership and leadership roles.
- Defining spaces for joint decision-making.
- Establishing official documentation and clear rules on the cooperative’s operation.
Based on the diagnostic results, seven in-person workshops were held for each of the seven cooperatives between April and May 2024. A total of 107 people were trained on entrepreneurship-related topics, such as leadership, financial management, and digital literacy, as well as agricultural technical topics like coffee processing, home gardens, rainwater harvesting, poultry manure utilization, and waste management, among others.
Finally, the diagnosis identified the need for the formalization of some cooperatives or the change in status from small taxpayer to small business to improve their fiscal and commercial conditions. The main financing needs were also established, such as the construction of grain processors and the acquisition of machinery, equipment, and transport units.
In the following phases of the project, community groups, mainly composed of women, will be supported with training on financial and credit topics, as well as the possibility of accessing credit under favorable conditions for them.
These components will remain in place throughout the rest of 2024, working on the development of these cooperatives with training on gender-focused entrepreneurial skills and the use of more sustainable production methods to strengthen their climate resilience.
