MANOS CAMPESINAS
COMMUNITY PARTNER
Community Partner in Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango, Guatemala
Coffee cooperative MANOS CAMPESINAS represent a total of 1000 members, smallholder coffee farmers grouped in 15 first level coffee organizations in the departments of Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The organization was founded in 1997 with the purpose of commercializing and exporting coffee. In 2024, in collaboration with Cooperative Coffees and MANOS CAMPESINAS, we did a diagnostic activity as a first effort to understand levels of food insecurity of their members and potential context-based solutions to it.
MANOS CAMPESINAS staff shared the fact that although the cooperative has implemented food security programs in the past, they have never made a diagnosis to know the characteristics and causes of food insecurity among their members. The survey showed that 60% of the population surveyed say they buy more than half of the food they consume, and 29% that they buy all the food, this means that there is potential and an opportunity to promote direct food production activities to reduce these percentages.
Families that produce at least a portion of the food they consume are less vulnerable and more likely to improve their diets. 646 (71%) people surveyed said they can cover only a portion of their basic consumption needs. Of those 96 (11%) families cover less than half of their basic consumption needs. When asked the causes of this significant gap, they reported low agricultural productivity, unemployment, old age (the average age of the population is 55 YO), and illness. The survey shows that there is interest in producing and consuming vegetables, not only because of the low cost that this production would represent, but also because families invest time and economic resources in the purchase of these vegetables (for the product itself and for the fare to go shopping). Survey participants also reported interest in the production of vegetables for health reasons and to eat better.
In 2025, we are planning participatory workshops with families to prioritize potential activities and co-design a program with MANOS CAMPESINAS.