A total of 375 rural micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from Central America and the Dominican Republic, 56% of them led by women, began a business training and market access program promoted by FAO and regional organizations.
This training seeks to strengthen the business development of rural MSMEs to contribute to improving their competitiveness, business growth and access to new markets, as well as boost local, national and intra-regional agri-food markets, said Monday the regional office of the Organization of United Nations for Food and Agriculture (FAO).
The training began with the module on good agricultural practices, and will take place over seven weeks, covering topics such as food quality management; conservation of the nutritional value of food and the role of the agri-food industry in nutritional security.
Also the inclusion of rural MSMEs in value chains, planning tools in agribusiness and strategies aimed at improving access to markets for rural MSMEs.
A statement from the United Nations entity specified that in the coming weeks face-to-face workshops will be held in each country of the region to deepen the contents of the program for participating MSMEs.
Other training initiatives will also continue, such as the “Digital transformation of rural MSMEs” workshop, the virtual training program in financial management and the digital literacy program.
“All these programs can be replicated or adapted to specific national contexts according to the requirements of rural MSMEs, thus becoming a regional product that contributes to the economic development of rural communities in the region,” said the FAO.
This training program is a joint initiative of the Center for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises in Central America (Cenpromype), the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (Secac) and FAO.