We provide coffee farmers, women, and adolescents with the tools, training, and support necessary to earn an extra income through entrepreneurship and beekeeping. Our project helps more than 20 coffee farmers, 10 women, and 12 youth leaders provide for themselves and their families amidst widespread poverty in rural Guatemala.
75% of Guatemalan coffee farmers rely on coffee as their main source of income. During "the thin months" between harvests, incomes dwindle and farmers struggle to feed their families. Additionally, with only 60% of students completing the sixth grade, many young people are left without secure job options. Without access to diversified income sources, coffee farmers, women and adolescents in the region face economic insecurity, food scarcity and malnourishment.
This project provides all supplies and comprehensive, skills-based training in beehive management and high-quality honey production for local coffee farmers. It also provides leadership, entrepreneurship, and business management training to groups of young people and women as well as seed funding to launch their own business endeavors. Easy to launch and maintain, beekeeping and micro-businesses are excellent sources of secondary income generation for rural coffee-farming families.
All resources for beekeeping can be sourced locally, providing financial benefits for the greater community. The honey produced from the hives will be sold for profit in local cafes, hotels, grocery stores, and restaurants, thus generating a reliable income source for local coffee farmers and their families. The businesses begun by youth leaders and women entrepreneurs will continue on long after the initial three year period, supporting the local economy and supplementing participant's incomes.
