A New Boost for Entrepreneurs in Central America and Africa
TechnoServe is supporting the growth of an innovative textile manufacturing company and hundreds of other small and growing businesses.
READ MOREImpact
TechnoServe has promoted transformative change across the coffee, biodiesel and vegetable markets in Guatemala by partnering with over 12,000 small producers to boost productivity and launch new business ventures. Through entrepreneurial trainings, TechnoServe supported nearly 300 women-owned businesses in diverse fields such as mushrooms, recycling and nuts.
Stories
Guatemalan Woman Finds Self-Reliance Through Fruit Juice Business
Mónica Jacinto once struggled to support herself and her four children. Today, she is helping her children achieve the promise of a better future through her thriving fruit-juice company.
READ MOREGuatemalan Woman’s Entrepreneurial Drive Revives a Community
A TechnoServe-supported entrepreneur is bringing jobs and opportunity to poor women in rural Guatemalan community.
READ MORERunning a Business Empowers Guatemalan Women
Selling products made from an abundant natural resource generates incomes - and a new world of opportunities - for a group of rural women.
READ MOREOn The Ground
Projects
Impulsa Tu Empresa
Supported by the Argidius Foundation, Impulsa Tu Empresa aims to help more than 800 small- and medium-sized enterprises... develop their businesses. Through mentoring, business training and business plan competitions, the program aims to increase sales by $13 million and generate 750 new jobs in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Burkina Faso.
Strengthening the Coffee Value Chain
TechnoServe is developing a four-year initiative to train 12,000 farmers on sustainable agriculture practices and... improve wet mill practices. The farmer training modules will cover all sustainable agronomy practices as well as environmental issues and ethical labor management, thereby increasing production while helping farmers to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. The program aims to increase yields of coffee and food crops such as maize by an average of 25 percent.
Building Strong Businesses
TechnoServe and its partners are running a periodic national business plan competition, Idea Tu Empresa, to help the... country's nascent entrepreneurs turn good ideas into thriving, growth-oriented businesses that generate jobs and markets. Thus far, the competitions have focused on agribusiness, light manufacturing, tourism and technology. As a result, dozens of businesses have already been launched or expanded, with incremental revenues exceeding $1 million.
Boosting Agricultural Production
TechnoServe is working with more than 500 small-scale farmers to help them produce profitable crops such as peas,... French beans, avocado and banana. TechnoServe advisors are helping the farmers to improve the quality of their products, secure financing needed to modernize and increase production, and tap into lucrative export markets.
Creating Sustainable Urban Opportunities
TechnoServe helped establish three business units organized around garbage dumps to produce worm organic fertilizer and... prepare recycling materials for further processing. The business units, owned and operated entirely by women living in low-income urban areas, are creating a new source of income for 248 women.
Partners
Argidius Foundation
Empowering Women-Owned Businesses
TechnoServe helped a group of women mushroom producers to expand its production, providing an opportunity for more than... 100 families to substantially increase their incomes through organic mushroom cultivation. TechnoServe also worked with a Maya-nut business owned by more than 30 low-income women to increase its production and develop a marketing campaign.
Building a Biodiesel Industry
TechnoServe ran a two-year biodiesel pilot project to help farmers capitalize on a new, environmentally friendly... business opportunity. TechnoServe helped six communities of small-scale farmers to grow jatropha plants on cleared land that was unsuitable for food crops, and then to process it in local facilities.
Blog Posts
August 24, 2012
TechnoServe Launches Program to Boost Development of Central American and African Businesses
Some 560 small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to develop their businesses through a new entrepreneurship development program, “Impulsa Tu Empresa (Boost Your Business), that TechnoServe plans to implement in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Burkina Faso in Africa.
August 3, 2012
Photo of the Week: Business Helps Women Find Independence in Guatemala
Mónica Jacinto, center, once struggled to support herself and her four children. She and other women from the San Lucas Tolimán region of Guatemala joined together to launch Kask’i, a fruit juice business. With TechnoServe’s assistance, the business has improved its operations and reached new markets.
April 6, 2012
Photo of the Week: A Fresh Blend in Guatemala
Mónica Jacinto prepares pineapple to be used in fruit juice by her company, Kask’i. TechnoServe has helped Kask'i, owned by a group of 34 women in Guatemala's Mayan highlands, to improve its operations and reach new markets.
Contact
TechnoServe Guatemala17 Ave. 19-70, Zona 10Edificio Torino, Nivel 6, Oficina 602 Guatemala City, Guatemala Tel: +502 2 367 5459 |
Eduardo Ruata
Country Director |
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