Young entrepreneurs from the Trifinio Region prepare to boost and accelerate the growth of their sustainable rural businesses

• Through the ESCALAR-Youth: Acceleration call, entrepreneurs strengthened their capacities to compete for non-reimbursable seed capital funds, aimed at promoting rural businesses linked to scaling agricultural innovations for climate adaptation.

The fourth and final ESCALAR-Youth call (2026) has officially begun, standing out this year for its emphasis on accelerating enterprises through innovative strategies that enable them to reach their full potential.

In this context, the ESCALAR project: “Scaling climate change adaptation solutions for resilience and migration reduction in the Central American Dry Corridor,” led by CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) with financial support from Swedish Cooperation, implemented a capacity-building plan for 33 young entrepreneurs (48.5% women), aged 18 to 29, from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

With a total of 8 sessions, from February 26 (virtual) through March 18–19 (in-person), the project provided participants with the tools and knowledge required to develop comprehensive growth proposals for their businesses and compete for seed capital funds of up to USD 5,000. This year, the project has allocated a total of USD 50,000 for this initiative.

The curriculum covered key topics such as growth strategy, accounting fundamentals, cash flow and financing capacity, growth proposals and investment planning, gender and inclusion in business, and the importance of corporate image in the digital environment for brand positioning. The training sessions were led by ESCALAR-CATIE project staff: Ricardo Padrón, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Specialist, and Laura Rodríguez, Agribusiness and Incubation Specialist.

Currently, the project is in the process of collecting the growth proposals developed by participants, who are applying their knowledge to structure investment plans, financial projections, and commercial strategies, while defining the next steps to complete their applications for seed capital. The winning ventures will be announced in April and selected through an evaluation matrix prioritizing environmental, socio-economic, innovation, and growth potential criteria.

Additionally, the workshops included integration activities with cultural approaches and group dynamics, strengthening the exchange of experiences among young entrepreneurs from the Trifinio region.

ESCALAR strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Trifinio

To date, the project has strengthened the capacities of more than 400 young people in the Trifinio region, supported the incubation of more than 50 rural enterprises, and mobilized over USD 200,000 in seed capital funds.

Today, these winning ventures are leading climate-smart initiatives linked to coffee, staple crops, livestock, bio-inputs, water harvesting, clonal coffee gardens, agri-tech, agroforestry nurseries, and the promotion of silvopastoral practices. In this way, the call aligns with the project’s strategic vision to scale climate adaptation agricultural innovations (CAAI), placing women and youth at the center of regional sustainability. 

This regional process has demonstrated that rural entrepreneurship, innovation, and climate adaptation can go hand in hand to transform the most vulnerable territories of the Dry Corridor in the Trifinio Region.