CATIE trains youth from the Central American Dry Corridor in innovation and rural business development for climate adaptation

• As a result of the call for the ESCALAR-Youth rural business incubation process for youth, CATIE's ESCALAR project trained 150 people between 18 and 29 years of age from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

October 20, 2023. The ESCALAR project: Scaling climate change adaptation solutions for resilience and migration reduction in the Central American Dry Corridor, implemented by CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), with funds from the Swedish Cooperation, from its rural business incubation component for youth of the territory: ESCALAR - Youth, launched its first call from June to July 2023, aimed at people from 18 to 29 years old, interested in developing ventures that provide solutions for adaptation to climate change in the 17 municipalities where the project is being developed.

The incubation component is implemented in partnership with the Centro Universitario de Oriente of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (CUNORI), the Fundación para el Desarrollo Empresarial Rural (FUNDER) in Honduras, and the Centro de Desarrollo de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa CDMYPE - UNICAES of the Universidad Católica de El Salvador. The purpose of these alliances is to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Dry Corridor of the Trifinio region.

The call obtained 158 applications with a percentage of 45% women and 55% men, 23% of those who participated are from El Salvador, 45% from Guatemala and 32% from Honduras. The areas in which there is greater interest on the part of the youth with respect to the proposals submitted, corresponds to 28.60 % to livestock issues, 23 % coffee, 16.50 % rainwater harvesting, 9.80 % basic grains, 9 % bio-inputs and 13.10 % to other areas.

Once the results were obtained, the ESCALAR project organized a series of 20 training sessions in the three participating countries from August 2 to September 14, 2023, which addressed topics such as the purpose of entrepreneurship and its link with Agricultural Innovations for Climate Adaptation; customer-centric approach and value proposition; business models; validation of business models and investment plan, as well as the construction and presentation of business proposals.

Five training sessions were held in Metapán, El Salvador, with the participation of 25 people, 64% women and 36% men. Five training sessions were held in Guatemala, in Chiquimula, at the facilities of the Centro Universitario de Oriente (CUNORI). A total of 66 people attended, 55% of whom were men and 45% women.

"It is important that we get involved in entrepreneurship and create new sustainable opportunities in our country, I feel excited to come to these trainings, I want to work with coffee to make more sustainable practices in my region Olopa, Chiquimula, Guatemala", mentioned Carlos Carranza.

"My experience in this process has been very good ... many times we have dreams to fulfill, but we do not know how to carry them out or how to structure them, in these sessions I have learned how to structure, how business ideas are formed, how the market is, how to reach our customers and offer our services and products, and I want to thank the advice, because not with all the money in the world could we buy something like this," said Ingrid Ramirez, a young Guatemalan participant in the workshop.

Because of the impact of the project in two regions of Honduras, 10 workshops were held in Honduras, five in Copán Ruinas, Copán, and five in La Labor, Ocotepeque. In Copán Ruinas, 40 young people attended, of whom 28% were women and 73% men.

"The youth of the territory show great energy and desire to move forward. They have a valuable social and environmental awareness of their communities," said Ricardo Padrón, CATIE's innovation and entrepreneurship specialist. Padrón also emphasized the importance of the workshops, as they allowed the young people to listen to each other and give them the opportunity to build their business ideas, which are innovative and have a high positive impact within the context of the Central American Dry Corridor. "Without a doubt they want to be heard and get involved to be protagonists of change, they want the opportunity. It was very motivating to visualize that the training in entrepreneurship is being very beneficial for the youth... the project will continue to advance with the next stages of incubation with seed capital and to take that step this series of trainings have been fundamental", concluded the specialist.  

The training in La Labor, Ocotepeque was attended by 18 people, 44% of whom were women and 56% men. 

"It is worth noting that the percentage of women trained in entrepreneurship and business models related to Agricultural Innovations for Adaptation is 40.63%, which contributes to the economic empowerment of young women in the Dry Corridor of the Trifinio territory," said Laura Rodriguez, agribusiness and incubation specialist of the ESCALAR project.

Those who attended these trainings had as a final exercise to send a business proposal structured according to what they learned, as well as a video developing in business pitch format of their venture, in order to compete for a seed capital that will help them develop their business idea. The results of those who pass to this stage will be announced soon. pitch de negocios de su emprendimiento, con el objetivo de concursar por un capital semilla que les ayudará a desarrollar su idea de negocio. Los resultados de quienes pasen a esta etapa serán anunciados próximamente.