Quarterly Report: Strengthened and Competitive Enterprises Program in the Western Highlands

The program aims to improve the quality of life of small-scale coffee producers in rural areas of Guatemala by increasing their economic revenue and enabling them to sell high-quality coffee. The program's general objective is to increase the impact of the Guatemala coffee sector by focusing on small-scale coffee producers, thereby increasing on-farm incomes and supporting food security initiatives through employment and income generation. The specific objectives of the program are to improve the quality of life of small-scale coffee producers, increase their economic revenue, and strengthen them to sell high-quality coffee. The program targets 45 organizations of small producers, with a total of 661 women and 3,051 men participating in the activities. The program has completed 32% of the activities described in the Annual Work Plan, including technical assistance, training, and technology transfer for agricultural production. The program is currently applying continuous improvement approaches based on the pillars of coffee growing and production, with the goal of increasing productivity and improving the quality of the coffee. The program has also focused on post-harvest quality, with the goal of training program participants in post-harvest and coffee-quality techniques, and improving overall quality and waste management practices. The program has provided training and technical assistance activities focused on improving wet-mill processing operations, and a post-harvest technical team is conducting a needs assessment regarding wet-mill upgrading. In addition, the program has focused on organizational strengthening, with the goal of training sessions for members of the 45 target grower groups. The program has provided feedback and recommendations to correct any deficiencies, and has taken advantage of ANACAFE's ongoing program known as "Learning to Compete" to provide training components that include certification courses, study programs, workshops on business management, agronomy, environmental issues, productivity, and competitiveness. The program has reported significant progress, with 27.5% of the 45 small-producer groups in the baseline participating in the activities covered in the Yearly Work Plan for this period. A total of 5,274 individuals received training, including 98 women. The program has also provided resources to improve organizational strengthening activities, with particular emphasis on the target regions, and has hired two additional technicians to address accounting issues of concern to the 45 small-producer groups.