Addressing Youth Unemployment in Latin America
By engaging youth in entrepreneurship and agriculture, TechnoServe is working to create sustainable growth in the region.
Partnering to Support Guatemala’s Coffee Farmers
TechnoServe partners with the Canadian Trade Facilitation Office and coffee chain Tim Hortons to help small coffee growers in Guatemala.
Helping Women Build Better Businesses in Latin America
The Impulsa Tu Empresa (“Boost Your Business”) program is a business accelerator program, which aims to help 850 small and growing businesses across Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Burkina Faso. With support from the Argidius Foundation, the Multilateral Investment Fund, the Walmart Foundation, the Citi Foundation and the PIMCO…
Opportunities for Revitalizing Coffee Farms in Latin America
Coffee is an important livelihood for more than 1 million farming families in Latin America. See how we are helping coffee farmers like Alicia Yucute overcome hurdles to lift themselves out of poverty.
A New Boost for Entrepreneurs in Central America and Africa
In 2010, university student Julio Baltodano surveyed the local apparel industry in Managua, Nicaragua, and devised a clever business idea. Together with his friend Verónica Bucardo, Julio envisioned IKO Imagen as a leather and textile manufacturer that would specialize in handbags and brand merchandising, or placing company logos on t-shirts…
A New Methodology for Teaching Finance
In Nicaragua, Iveth Juárez, a small business owner who processes and sells cereal to the local market, had attended seminars, workshops, courses and training sessions on accounting and finance. But at the end of each session, she always felt the same sense of confusion.
Guatemalan Woman Finds Self-Reliance Through Fruit Juice Business
Mónica’s path to independence began three years ago when she joined an association of women from the San Lucas Tolimán region, who learned practical skills like weaving in an effort to find income opportunities. Mónica’s husband had abandoned the family, leaving her in debt and with few opportunities for employment.
Guatemalan Woman’s Entrepreneurial Drive Revives a Community
Carmela Francisca Sacuj Matzar is a leader among Mayan women in San Andrés Semetabaj, a poor rural community in central Guatemala. As the founder of Asociación Visión Maya Mujeres, a women’s association that produces textiles and cultivates mushrooms, Sacuj is helping 50 women to generate income and improve the…
Running a Business Empowers Guatemalan Women
El Petén has long suffered as one of Guatemala’s poorest areas despite its bounty of natural resources. Two thirds of El Petén’s residents live below the poverty line and half lack sanitary services. Many of the children living in this area are severely malnourished, jeopardizing Guatemala’s future generations. Gladis Rodriguez…
Cultivating a Home-Grown Entrepreneur
In 2005, Hurricane Stan struck Guatemala, destroying crops and homes. The losses spelled particular hardship for indigenous communities with little education or resources. For an entrepreneurial farmer named Manuel Yax, this crisis simply reinforced his resolve to follow through on his dream: running a business that would generate economic…
