“We have received training in first aid and personal hygiene and how to correctly put on the fumigation equipment, that has helped us to improve and have a better-quality product because with all this we have received a certification and we are very happy.”
Lesvia Juárez is the owner of Parcela La Bonita, Chimaltenango and a member of Cooperativa Los Planes, R.L. She has been a farmer since birth and began by planting coffee, but over time she decided to change crops and saved to buy 25 avocado trees that she planted on her plot. The plants bore fruit and now she has more than 500 avocado trees. This improved her finances and her and her daughters’ quality of life. Five years ago, she joined Cooperativa Los Planes, R.L., which is part of the AGEXPORT Avocado Committee.
Thanks to the fact that she has applied her acquired knowledge, she is now the owner of a small business with a certified product that allows her to sell to exporting companies.
“Our wish would be to export directly, because we love the land and the fruit that there is,” says Lesvia.
The training received by the AGEXPORT Avocado Committee is part of the MiPymes and Cooperatives + Competitive Project (MCC+) financed by the European Union and executed by the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT).
The MCC+ Project provides direct advice to the avocado producers of Cooperativa Los Planes, R.L. with training and direct advice in the field on various topics. Additionally, it accompanies producers in the implementation of their quality management systems in avocado production so that they achieve the Global G.A.P production certification, a process that opens up opportunities for them, principally in the European market.
