Virtual business training and market access program launched for rural MSMEs in Central America and Dominican Republic

• The program seeks to support rural MSMEs with the transfer of knowledge and tools to help them grow and consolidate their business initiatives.

March 1, 2023. On February 27, the Business Training and Market Access Program for Rural MSMEs in Central America and the Dominican Republic was launched virtually, with the participation of 375 people from throughout the region, 56% of them women linked to rural MSMEs in various sectors.

The program seeks to support rural MSMEs with the transfer of knowledge and tools to help them grow and consolidate their business initiatives.

This program was designed by experts from the Environmental Economics and Sustainable Agribusiness Unit/EFD and the Climate Action Unit of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center); within the framework of two projects: Innovation and capacity building for greater inclusion and resilience of family farming organizations, MSMEs and rural cooperatives in Central America; and Strengthening grassroots farmers' organizations in the Dry Corridor. Both are led by the Center for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises in Central America (CEMPROMYPE, its Spanish acronym) and the Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (SECAC, its Spanish acronym), with financial support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The training began with a module on good agricultural practices and will be carried out over seven weeks, covering topics such as: food quality management; preserving the nutritional value of food; the role of the agri-food industry in nutritional security; inclusion of rural MSMEs in value chains; agribusiness planning tools; and strategies to improve market access for rural MSMEs.

The program was opened by Katya Moreira de Sagasturne, CEMPROMYPE's BDS and Competitiveness Coordinator; Ricardo Montero, SECAC's Technical Coordinator; and Erika Zarate, FAO Mesoamerica's Food Security Specialist, who expressed their commitment to continue providing tools for the development of rural MSMEs in the region.

Participants by country

In the coming weeks, face-to-face workshops will be held in each country to provide on-site training on each topic to the MSMEs proposed by their national authorities.

Participants of the virtual training program during the opening of the program