New cold storage unit warms hearts of Guatemalan farmers
CHIMALTENANGO, Guatemala " An ongoing U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Guatemalan Food for Progress project led by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture is helping farmers in the highland region of Chimaltenango by establishing a new cold storage unit and food processing training center.
(Media-Newswire.com) - CHIMALTENANGO, Guatemala – An ongoing U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Guatemalan Food for Progress project led by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture is helping farmers in the highland region of Chimaltenango by establishing a new cold storage unit and food processing training center. The storage unit and training center were established in response to food production, processing and safety needs identified through on-site project personnel working with local farmers, community leaders and others involved in agribusiness, said Johanna Roman, coordinator for Latin American programs with the Borlaug Institute, part of the Texas A&M System.
"Since 2005, we have helped tens of thousands of Guatemalan farmers, mainly indigenous people, through different USDA-funded Food for Progress projects," Roman said. "We're hoping this recent addition of a cold storage unit and food processing training center will help them expand their ability to sell their products locally and through export."
Roman said Borlaug Institute involvement in the project has farmers in the central Guatemalan highlands, as well as livestock producers in Izabal and Peten and others involved in agriculture in the southern coastal region of Escuintla.
"We’ve been working to help increase farmer knowledge and to help provide farmers with access to new markets and technology,” she said. “We’re hoping to help them improve every link in the agricultural value chain, including production processing, storage, packaging, shipping and marketing."
Roman said previous Guatemalan Food for Progress efforts led by the Borlaug Institute have included the establishment of food processing centers, an extensive greenhouse and crop demonstration and training garden facility, and biodiesel production facilities.
Project efforts also have included extensive education and training for thousands of Guatemalan farmers, as well as community leaders and agribusiness and agriculture ministry representatives. Topics have ranged from best agricultural practices, crop rotation, irrigation, production, harvesting and sound environmental techniques to fair trade, micro-credit, product marketing, food processing and safety, organic farming, agroforestry and horticulture. Instruction is typically provided in Spanish by AgriLife Extension, Texas AgriLife Research and other Texas A&M System experts, as well as experts from local institutions and organizations.
"Through several Texas A&M student organizations, we also helped bring the Junior Master Gardener program, a youth education program of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, to hundreds of teachers and youth, including children in three Guatemalan orphanages," she added. "This was a way not only to build the children's interest in horticulture, but also for them to learn useful life skills and expand their knowledge of math and science through a fun and interesting program."
Roman said the new cold storage unit in San Juan Compala was established as part of the Food for Progress project's Agriculture in Guatemala: Technology, Education and Commercialization effort. It was added to a small local post-harvest packing center to help improve the livelihoods of members of an area agricultural cooperative, the Asociacion de Pequenos Agricultores Comalapenses de Productos No Tradicionales ( Association of Small Farmers from Compala Growing Non-traditional Products ). The new cold storage facility will benefit 125 farmers of the association, and will provide additional economic benefits for the community at large.
The main products packed at the center are blueberries, snow peas and baby vegetables, which are also exported to several countries.
"We saw that the center needed support in strengthening its cold-chain system, improving food safety and expanding their cold storage capabilities," said Vanessa Salazar, the program leader overseeing enhancements to both the post-harvest center and the food processing training center in Chimaltenango.
Along with the cold storage unit, beneficiaries received a series of trainings on food safety, Roman said. And with the support of AGTEC, the association's packing plant was able to receive GlobalGap certification after completion of food safety training.
The GlobalGap standard is based on food production through good agricultural practices which reduce the negative environmental impact of farming operations and demonstrate a concern for worker health and safety.
While the new food processing center at the Central de Estudios Cooperativos Training Center in Chimaltenango has been operating since February, an official opening ceremony was held April 23 and attended by representatives of the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service-Guatemala, the training center and El Instituto Tecnico de Capacitacion y Productividad, Guatemala's national training institute.
"We remodeled one of the existing rooms at the farmer training center and brought in food processing equipment for the purpose of hands-on demonstration and training," said Salazar.
She said both local and national training entities are already offering training programs at the center, and project instructors have been training farmers and agriculture students on new food product development and food safety.
Salazar, who is conducting a series of courses at the center as an AGTEC food processing expert, said the educational component will benefit hundreds of area farmers.
"Some of the new food products being developed at the center are baked goods, fruit jams and hot sauces," she said. "And the training center will also be used to offer training programs to Mayan men and women who want to become part of the restaurant and food service industries."
“This food processing facility is a great contribution to the community, and the instruction provided will help improve small-scale food processing of the participants," said Linda Eilks, the USDA agricultural attache who inaugurated the center in April.
Having taught the Master Food Preserver Program for the Illinois Extension Service, Eilks said she was impressed with the caliber of the facilities.
“In a teaching facility like this, the quality of the equipment and facilities are important, but more important is that the instructors teach the students not only proper food preparation methods, but to constantly keep in mind the safe handling of food,” she said.
Roman noted that much of the credit for these new efforts, as well as the previous work done in Guatemala, should also be given to Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and world-renowned "father of the green revolution" for whom the Borlaug Institute was named. Borlaug was a distinguished professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M from 1984 until his death last year.
"We also need to thank Dr. Borlaug for inspiring us to help the farmers of Guatemala in the same way he helped others in countries throughout the world fight hunger and increase food security during his lifetime," she said.
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