Training for Technical Staff in Oaxaca Continues

• CATIE specialists in sustainable agribusiness provide knowledge to enhance business and financial capabilities.

The second diploma course, "Tools for Financial and Market Management of Producer Organizations," has commenced in Oaxaca, Mexico, starting with Module 1, "Agrosustainable Business Models." This course features participation from specialists in sustainable agribusiness from CATIE's Environmental Economics and Sustainable Agribusiness Unit (UEAAS/EfD).

This diploma focuses on developing business and financial capabilities to enable technicians to transfer this knowledge to their training and technical assistance activities with the producers they serve.

Throughout the week, participants have engaged in two training segments. The first segment was dedicated to developing business models for products such as chocolate, mezcal, tortillas and totopos made from native colored maize, and the sale of native colored maize. They identified market segments, product distribution channels, value propositions, key activities and resources, as well as revenues and costs. The process included field practices through interviews with establishments and potential clients and consumers of these products.

In the second segment, in collaboration with the German Services Foundation (FAS), participants worked with an agribusiness simulator designed to strengthen financial concepts in an engaging manner.

The high quality of the technical staff participating in the training process is noteworthy, as is the high regard expressed by the producers they assist for their work.

In the coming weeks, the training process will continue virtually, focusing on topics such as market strategies, product differentiation, cost recording and analysis, financial ratio interpretation, and investment plan development.

For CATIE and the German Technical Cooperation, GIZ, through the Vida y Campo project, this process confirms the need to continue strengthening the skills, knowledge, and abilities of technicians. These technicians face the challenging task of maintaining and improving support processes for small producers, ensuring the supply of basic products for the diet and economy of their families through the cultivation of basic grains, primarily.

Top Performers Recognized

In the face-to-face course of the second diploma, students who achieved the top three averages in the first diploma, "Training of Trainers for Technical Advisors Who Assist Producers," were recognized.

Bernardino Martínez Rivera achieved the highest average, followed by María Guadalupe Cortés Guzmán, both from the Secretariat of Agri-Food Promotion and Rural Development of the State of Oaxaca. The third highest average was attained by Eloy Fernández González, from the non-governmental organization Proyecto Mixteca Sustentable, who is a graduate of CATIE's master's program in Integrated Watershed Management.