Conservación Osa and Activa-CATIE promote businesses in the Fila Costeña with environmental, economic, and social impact

• In southern Costa Rica, 26 producers and entrepreneurs are transforming the way they manage their farms and businesses by incorporating financial tools, innovation, and sustainability into their production models.

Through a training process led by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Laboratory: Activa of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), in partnership with the Conservación Osa Association, local stakeholders are strengthening their capacities to improve profitability, diversify their income, and move toward more resilient production systems, demonstrating that sustainability is also a concrete opportunity for economic development in rural territories.

This initiative was carried out the project Implementation of Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Production Strategies to Enhance Climate Resilience in the Fila Costeña, funded by SAVIA resources and administered in Costa Rica by Costa Rica por Siempre. The project aims to strengthen the climate resilience of forests and farms through ecosystem restoration, habitat connectivity, and knowledge transfer to local communities.

“Activa-CATIE took on the facilitation of a training process structured into two bootcamps, delivered to two groups of participants according to their geographic location—one in the San Vito area and another in the Río Claro area, both within the area of influence of the Fila Costeña project,” said Vladimir Valera, coordinator of Activa-CATIE.

Development of the training process

The process began in November 2025 with a bootcamp focused on sustainable business formulation, held at the Las Cruces Biological Station in San Vito and at the ASADA headquarters in Villa Briceño. Subsequently, in April 2026, the second bootcamp, titled Sustainable businesses: building productivity with a conservation approach, was conducted at the same biological station and at the facilities of CANAPALMA in Río Claro.

Each bootcamp lasted one and a half days, equivalent to 12 hours of training, allowing each participant to complete a total of 24 hours throughout the process, accumulating 48 hours of training delivered overall.

Strengthened capacities

Throughout these training spaces, participants strengthened their capacities in key areas for sustainable business management, including the design of business models with a triple-impact approach, product innovation, value proposition development, as well as practical tools for financial management, cost analysis, pricing, cash flow management, and break-even point calculation, among other topics.

“In total, 26 producers and entrepreneurs participated, evenly distributed between men and women, who are engaged in activities such as livestock production, organic agriculture, rural tourism, coffee, organic fertilizers, dairy product processing, among other sectors,” explained Vinicio Vargas, business development manager at Activa-CATIE.

It is worth noting that this territorial approach made it possible to adapt the content to the productive realities of the area and promote the practical application of the knowledge acquired.

For his part, Vladimir Valera noted that Activa-CATIE highlights this type of collaborative process to expand impact in rural territories. “We are very pleased to contribute, through our work, to strengthening the rural entrepreneurial sector in this region of the country,” explained the Activa-CATIE coordinator.

“Spaces like these bring practical tools closer to producers and generate real changes in how they manage their businesses. Likewise, working in partnership, such as the collaboration we have developed with Conservación Osa, allows us to enhance and scale our actions and results, generating a broader and more sustainable impact in the territories,” Valera added. 

Regarding this process, Rodrigo de Sousa, manager of the tropical forests program at the Conservación Osa Association, highlighted the relevance of these training spaces for strengthening productive capacities in the region.

“We worked with Activa-CATIE the Fila Costeña project, which, in addition to restoration, has a strong component of education, extension, and training with local producers. These bootcamps on sustainable rural businesses are therefore essential because they provide financial tools that enable producers to take their farms to the next level,” said Sousa.

The program manager added that, “in many cases, producers manage their production systems very well, but they need to strengthen aspects such as financial management, product differentiation, or pricing strategies. We saw strong interest from approximately 25 producers in each session, which demonstrates the importance of this type of initiative. We greatly appreciate the collaboration with Activa-CATIE this project.”

Contributions to the project and role of Activa-CATIE

Estas acciones se enmarcan en el Resultado 2 del proyecto, orientado a mejorar la calidad ambiental del paisaje agrícola y fomentar la diversificación de las fuentes de ingreso mediante ,, contribuyendo así al fortalecimiento de los medios de vida de las familias productoras.

As part of its commitment to strengthening the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem, the Activa-CATIE team participated in this training process aimed at producers and entrepreneurs from southern Costa Rica, at the invitation of the Conservación Osa Association.

This participation reaffirms its role as a strategic ally in promoting sustainable rural entrepreneurship through the transfer of methodologies and tools that integrate environmental, social, and economic sustainability into business management.