
How a Coffee Farmers Group Empowered One Guatemalan Woman to Lead
When she was a little girl, María Juan Tomas often helped her father with the family’s coffee farm in Guatemala. One day, she thought, she’d have her own plot of…
Read MoreAll his life, 21-year-old Indigenous farmer Iddy Cinto and his father worked together to cultivate their farm in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Despite food insecurity and economic hardships, Iddy was confident that agriculture improves the well-being of families like his.
And he had good reason to feel this way. Guatemala has tremendous potential for expanding its agricultural production, creating economic growth and alleviating poverty. Young farmers like Iddy are critical to this transformation.
Through Feed the Future, 25,000 small-scale farmers are improving their skills through training and accessing modern agricultural technologies. This includes introducing Indigenous young people to agricultural innovations, which has resulted in improved livelihoods for more than 7,300 young farmers.
A USAID event hosted in Iddy’s community connected his family to training opportunities to improve their technical skills regarding irrigation, environmentally friendly fertilizers and hygienic practices. Iddy and his father noticed the improvements that come with using biological products to control pests and diseases and improve soil nutrition.
On their farm, they increased their tomato yield from 8,000 pounds to 15,000 pounds, a value of $3,900. With the extra income, they improved the family’s quality of life and invested
in their farm.
Iddy’s experiences and perseverance have made him a role model for other people in his community. At the time of publishing this report, Iddy recently passed away after a battle
with cancer. His family carries on his legacy by continuing to empower the community through agriculture.
When she was a little girl, María Juan Tomas often helped her father with the family’s coffee farm in Guatemala. One day, she thought, she’d have her own plot of…
Read MoreFor many developing nations grappling with climate shocks, chronic droughts are a familiar problem. In Guatemala, recurrent dry spells are a leading cause of soil degradation and food-supply shortages, forcing…
Read MoreThis article in brief: While cacao is a high-value crop in Guatemala, indigenous leadership of an export enterprise is rare, and indigenous women’s leadership is even more scarce. The Inter-American…
Read MoreThis article in brief: Guatemala has high rates of malnutrition, with 46 percent of children suffering from stunting. The main reason for these high statistics is that traditional maize, a…
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