LatinNews Daily - 04 November 2022

* Guatemala’s federation of coffee cooperatives (Fedecocagua) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have concluded a joint programme aimed at boosting Guatemala’s rural economy and slowing emigration through investment in the coffee sector. The Coffee Value Chains Project, which ran from 2018, created around 33,000 jobs and financially benefitted around 50,000 people, according to Gerardo De León, director of commerce at Fedecocagua. The project sought to modernise the coffee sector by introducing mechanisation into the planting and harvesting processes, due to a shortage of labour, and by increasing quality control protocols aimed at boosting the value of Guatemalan coffee. Simultaneously, the scheme also sought to reduce malnutrition rates by encouraging climate change resilience and crop diversification, with one goal being a reduction in emigration. De León that, over the last five years, techniques to cope with climate change were introduced in 15,000 hectares (ha) of farmland, while techniques to boost agricultural productivity were introduced in over 29,000ha.

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