CATIE and CTPT launch second edition of ESCALAR – Youth 2024 call for rural entrepreneurship with seed capital

• More than 80 young people from El Trifinio participated in informative workshops to learn about the details of this call.

During the month of April, CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), in collaboration with the Trinational Commission for the Trifinio Plan (CTPT), held a series of informative workshops in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, as part of the launch of the second call for Escalar-Youth 2024 entrepreneurship.

This initiative arises within the framework of the ESCALAR project: Scaling up climate change adaptation solutions for resilience and reducing migration in the Central American Dry Corridor, and its main objective is to promote the development of rural enterprises led by young people aged 18 to 29 from the Central American Dry Corridor in the Trifinio region.

During these workshops, more than 80 young people had the opportunity to learn about the details of the call, which seeks to strengthen and support rural entrepreneurship in productive and technological sectors such as coffee, basic grains, livestock, bio-inputs, water harvesting, clonal coffee gardens, agri-tech, agroforestry nurseries, and silvopastoral practices.

Additionally, details were provided about the benefits offered by the call, including free training in entrepreneurship and agricultural innovations for climate change adaptation, non-refundable seed capital of up to USD 4,000, mentoring, and specialized advice.

These workshops, held in collaboration with incubation partner organizations such as the Catholic University of El Salvador (UNICAES), in El Salvador; the Eastern University Center (CUNORI), in Guatemala; and the Foundation for Rural Business Development (FUNDER), in Honduras, were attended by representatives from local and regional institutions, as well as supported by experts in entrepreneurship and rural development.

From CATIE, Laura Rodríguez and Ricardo Padrón, business incubation specialists, as well as Leida Mercado, ESCALAR project leader, facilitated the workshops.

The expectation is that participation in the 2024 edition will surpass the results of 2023, where 35 business proposals were received, and 18 enterprises received seed capital.

The Escalar-Youth 2024 call represents a unique opportunity for the entrepreneurial youth of Trifinio to turn their ideas into concrete projects that contribute to the sustainable development of their communities, climate change adaptation, and strengthening of the agricultural sector in the region.

For more information about this call, visit the official website at https://escalar.catie.ac.cr/resultados/escalar-juventud-2024/

The ESCALAR project is implemented by CATIE, with the support of the Swedish Cooperation.