3,000 Guatemalan Farmers Graduate from Poverty

Good news!  SID's regional approach to increasing poor farmer income in Guatemala is producing major results.

In December 2018, 767 farmers from 193 coffee-growing communities in Guatemala's Alta Verapaz region met in workshops and defined the practices they need to adopt in order to graduate from poverty: 8 for increasing productivity; 7 for husking and selling directly to exporters for a higher price; 7 for conserving their mountainside land; and 6 for making better business decisions.

Local partners have been promoting the practices and SID has been conducting demonstration fairs in them. Knowledge of the productivity practices has increased from 29% to 59%, the husking/price practices from 5% to 28%, conservation from 34% to 63%, and business decisions from 2% to 36%.  Adoption increased from 29% to 47% for the productivity practices, 5% to 21% for husking/price, 30% to 54% for conservation, and 2% to 31% for business decisions.

SID also provides technical assistance in 44 leader communities in which farmers agreed to adopt all 28 practices for graduating from poverty with coffee.  790 farm families increased the productivity of their coffee plots from 173 to 284 pounds of coffee per 1/9th of an acre, husking and sales directly to exporters from 0% to 21%, and income from $106 to $293 per year from coffee.  In addition, 84% of the women in these communities started second businesses and began earning from $9 to $33 a month from these second businesses.

Serapia Cac, from one of these leader communities, says “with the project we have changed the way we think and how we see the production of coffee.  For me, I like learning about all the practices and how each helps me get more coffee, a higher price, and protect my land.”

Links:

• SID Website