"EntreTodas". Strengthening productive capacities and financial self-management in rural communities in Alta and Baja Verapaz, Guatemala.

  • Country: Guatemala.
  • Location: Rural areas of Alta and Baja Verapaz.
  • Duration: June to November 2017.
  • Participants: 200 families of women artisans from rural communities, members of savings and credit groups established in previous years.
  • Area of specialization: Business Training and Microentrepreneurship, Microfinance Services, Rural Market Development.

Starting point

In the rural and semi-rural areas of Alta and Baja Verapaz, families are primarily engaged in agriculture, focusing on the cultivation of staple grains (corn and beans) and, occasionally, vegetables.

In these areas, women are responsible for their children’s nutrition, health, and education, but lack the financial resources to meet their basic needs. They live in poverty, with an average daily household income of €3 per day, earned through the sale of vegetables and the creation of handicrafts at home. Added to this is the lack of schooling and the high rate of illiteracy among women.

This situation of extreme vulnerability directly impacts the population’s food and nutritional insecurity.

Objective

Improve the quality of artisanal textile production and marketing, and strengthen the beneficiaries’ self-management and financial sustainability processes.

What is the project about

The intervention is aimed at women from rural communities, currently members of savings and credit groups established through the financial education process that CODESPA has been implementing in previous years. This has allowed them to accumulate savings and access microcredits, which they have invested in improving their production systems, overcoming the financial exclusion they were in.

This project goes a step further by providing technical training to the beneficiaries. They will be trained and provided with the necessary tools to improve the quality of their handcrafted weaving, marketing, and business management skills, in order to increase their income. They will also be provided with support and technical assistance to promote association processes, so they can access new markets and obtain better sales prices for their weaving. It is estimated that strengthening these capacities will lead to an income increase of more than 50% compared to current income.

The project will also have a financial education component, focused on providing basic knowledge of managing their own resources so they can independently manage their credit and savings groups.

Entities that support this project