Looking back at 2006 we will remember it as a year of progress, a major step forward on the road to self sufficiency for many organizations. The two principal capacity building projects “Institutional Capacity Building of Small Scale Coffee Producer organizations – financed by Irish Aid – and “Capacity Building of Small Scale Producers in Guatemala and Honduras –financed by ICCO PSA in Holland—really picked up pace and with that, the extent of their impact in the organizations in the projects.

Institutional Capacity Building of Small Scale Producer Organizations

This Project formally finished at the end of 2006. During 2006 a number of activities were carried out aiming to secure maximum benefit from the resources offered by the Project.

In March of 2006 a workshop was held in Jinotega Nicaragua, with the objective of systematizing the experiences of the Project. The three counterparts in the project: UCA Soppexcca from Nicaragua, La Central from Honduras (representatives of La Central and of its Fairtrade certified organizations participated) and Manos Campesinas/ECOAPOCS of Guatemala were all present at the workshop. FLO Centroamerica, as coordinating agency of the project was also present. In the workshop, the content of the project systematization was agreed. The results of this systematization will be published in the second half of 2007.

One of the direct results of the Project for the participating organizations has been the opportunity to develop their infrastructure. In early 2006 UCA Soppexcca opened the doors of its Café to the public. Quality coffee, both as a drink and in one pound packs is available. Simultaneously, the “Flor de Jinotega” brand was launched. The success of the coffee shop demonstrates in a practical way that there are possibilities of developing internal markets as complementary income sources for small scale producer organizations. On the same line of income diversification, UCA Soppexcca has also developed an Ecotourism product in the area of Pueblo Nuevo and Los Alpes in the mountains to the north of Jinotega.

Further north, in the Department of Santa Barbara in Honduras, COAGRICSAL now boasts a modern wet-mill processing plant matching the organization´s needs. The cooperative has benefitted from this new infrastructure during harvest 2006-2007. According to the Manager of COAGRICSAL, Oscar Serrano, the cooperative produced a more consistent quality in its product. COMITEL, in the eastern department of El Paraíso in Honduras managed to fulfill a long cherished dream of having their own storage unit and office space. Teodoro Murillo, President of COMITEL, is of the opinion that the harvest 2006-2007 bore witness to the growing interest of hitherto unorganized small scale farmers in the area towards the cooperative. Teodoro firmly believes that this interest is largely due to the improved image of the cooperative as a result of the construction of the new infrastructure. COCATRAL (neighbors of COAGRICSAL in the Department of Santa Bárbara) has managed to improve its transport capacity and its administrative infrastructure. In addition, it has strengthened its membership in numbers and invested in a small collective farm close to the village of Tras Cerros bordering with Guatemala.

Continuing further north we arrive at Panajachel on Lake Atitlán where ECOAPOCS has established its cupping laboratory. This laboratory will be of significant support in maintaining and improving the quality of the coffee of the small scale producers of Atitlán. IJATZ and ASUVIM, both member organizations of ECOAPOCS, have improved their quality processes through the installation of a wet-mill plant and a machine dryer respectively.

The cooperatives COARENE and RAOS, in San Juan in the Department of Intibuca and in Marcala Department of La Paz respectively have also successfully improved their infrastructure with support of funds from the project. Both organizations now have cupping laboratories which will benefit not only the producer members of COARENE and RAOS but also all the organizations certified by FLO in these two departments. It is also noteworthy that both organizations have agreed to repay the funds (without interest) to FLO Centroamerica in a 5 year period so that investments in other organizations in Honduras can be made.

Capacity Building of Small Scale Producers in Fairtrade in Guatemala and Honduras

This project, negotiated and coordinated by FLO Centroamerica with ICCO PSA - The Netherlands, directly benefits 13 organizations in Honduras and 16 en Guatemala, and it is coordinated by our strategic partners ASONOG and CRECER.

In Honduras ASONOG works directly with the beneficiary organizations in 4 principal areas of development: Organizational, Administrative Accounting, Production/Diversification and Sales and Marketing. The interrelated nature of these areas is reflected in the coordination of the project activities.

As part of the Organizational Dimension a manual was published which is available upon request from FLO Centroamerica. In addition, a number of Motivational Workshops were held with the aim of encouraging the organizations who are encountering difficulties with general management and renewal of leadership.

In the second half of 2006 the Administrative Accounting Dimension started, with a view to contributing to the updating of the beneficiary organizations financial bookkeeping practices. In July a meeting was held involving exporters and finance agencies as part of learning about sales and the triangular relationship between producers, exporters and finance agencies.

In the case of Guatemala, workshops are the key component of the program. Through the workshops the general objectives of the Project in Guatemala are being met and the methodology proposed in the Project is adhered to. During 2006 a total of 6 workshops were held: International Coffee and Money Markets; Computing 1: Windows & Word; Computing 2: Excel, Internet & Electronic Mail; Excel 123: Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced Levels; Risk Management in Small Scale Coffee Producer Organizations; Financial Administration and Updating of Tax Law requirements.

Updating Workshops on FLO Generic Standards and Integrated Management Systems

“Updating Workshops on FLO Generic Standards” and “Introduction to Integrated Management Systems” were held in November and December 2006 in 5 countries of the region. There was participation from 7 countries (including Belize and Panama) The one organization currently certified in Belize (TCGA: Toledo Cacao Growers Association) participated in the workshop held in Honduras. COCABO (Cocoa Cooperative of Boca Toreño), the one organization certified in Panama, participated in the workshop held in Costa Rica. HIVOS facilitated the staging of these workshops through the support which it gives to FLO Centroamerica.

In the table outlined below it can be seen that 84% of the organizations certified at the time in the region participated in the “Updating Workshops on Generic Standards of Fairtrade” and “Introduction to Integrated Management Systems” In addition, a number of organizations who were applying for Fairtrade certification at the time also were invited to take part. Two applicant organizations in El Salvador and one in Nicaragua took advantage of this opportunity.

Participation rates of certified organizations in national “Updating Workshops on Generic Standards of Fairtrade” and “Introduction to Integrated Management Systems”

Belice             1         1           100%

Costa Rica     13        10          77%

El Salvador     7          7          100%

  Guatemala     26        22          85%

Honduras       19        16          84%

  Nicaragua      17        14          82%

  Panamá          1          1          100%

Total             84         71         84%

During 2007 and 2008 FLO Centroamerica aims to further promote and develop the issue of Integrated Management Systems with a number of organizations in the region.

Besides the main specific focus on capacity building of the certified organizations, facilitated primarily by the support of HIVOS, ICCO and IRISH AID, FLO Centroamerica also coordinated feasibility studies on the potential of Fairtrade internal markets both in Nicaragua and in Honduras. These studies were supported by Christian Aid and also by ICCO. We have also worked closely with the coordinating representative bodies of Fairtrade certified organizations in each country. In Guatemala and Nicaragua in particular noteworthy progress has been made with both representative organizations legally registered in their respective countries. They have also developed strategic plans. Likewise in Honduras at the end of November 2006, 16 of the 19 organizations then certified FLO held a meeting to relaunch the existing representative body, ensuring that it would have a more participative and inclusive focus.

A challenge which we are taking on for the second half of 2007 is to work in conjunction with the organizations in Costa Rica and in El Salvador to reconvene their representative bodies.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.