The "Encadenamientos Empresariales" (business linking or chaining) program from Agexport will be presented in other countries.
The Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) has developed the program for five years, supporting and training 54 rural SMEs.
Agexport Development Manager, Ivan Buitrón said to Sigloxxi.com"...each country should adapt the model to their own needs, but the main idea is to promote public-private partnerships and train farmers reducing poverty and improving nutrition."
Provided by the International Agricultural Development (IADF), the funds are earmarked for small farmers from the country’s south.
Jacobo Regalado, Agriculture Ministry, explained that the money is aimed to assist small farmers from Choluteca, Valle and El Paraíso, who may also receive the resources as micro-loans.
At an encounter in Rome, the country subscribed an agreement which involves $30 million for agricultural development, of which $10 million are disbursed by IADF.
The International Agricultural Development Fund will use the funds in a forestry program in the Northern Caribbean Region.
The entity responsible for executing the project will be Nicaragua's Magfor, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.
"Minister Ariel Bucardo assured ... they are working in a proposal for the project, adding that they hope they can include production infrastructure in it", reported Laprensa.com.ni.
The funds provided by the European Commission are aimed at boosting agricultural development and improve the food supply.
The funds, $20 million for Guatemala and $10 million for Nicaragua, are part of a total of $42 million, which also includes Bolivia.
The support will run for three years, until 2011 and “it will finance measures to improve access to agricultural production means such as fertilizers, seeds, veterinary services, micro credit, rural infrastructure, training and support for professionals," according what was reported in the Finanzas.com website.
The funds will be used to finance a project for the transformation of agricultural subsistence activities.
The loan by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FIDA) will directly benefit 33 thousand people and promote the modernization of agricultural production.
Alfredo Sánchez wrote in Olganza.com: "This project will support the effective management of land in a series of micro-basins and it will encourage the participation of various groups in the rehabilitation of environmentally degraded areas.
The United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has granted Panama a credit of US$4.2 million for a rural modernization project.
The aim of the initiative, according to IFAD, is to improve the social and economic conditions of 10,000 people in central Panama, most of them small farmers, landless laborers, housewives and unemployed youths with annual income of less than 600 euros (US$953).