Cardamom cultivation and commercialization project grant no. 520-0317

The project will be implemented through village agricultural associations (ECA"s) being organized in the communities by Government of Guatemala (GOG) promoters. Each of 360 families in the 6 villages - El Penon, Lorena, San Francisco, San Isidro, San Juan, and Santa Rosa - will plant cardamon on one of their 13.57 manzanas; at the end of the third year (cardamon requires a 3-year preharvest period), these families will dry and sort the cardamon and sell it directly for export. For additional income during the initial period, participating farmers will dry cardamon for farmers outside the villages. Several GOG agencies will participate in the project: the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA) will share its technical information and help plan the training of participants; the General Directorate of Agricultural Services (DIGESA) will handle promotion among the settlers; and the National Institute for Agricultural Development (INTA) will work with DIGESA on promotion and training aspects at the community level and coordinate the overall project with CARE. Project inputs include training of 13 technical-promoters (9 at INTA, 4 at DIGESA) and provision of 6 drying and sorting plants. The GOG will continue TA as needed after project termination.