A dream has come true for locals in the villages of Pombaaq and Setolox, located on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast. Thus far, their livelihoods have relied on the subsistence economy, but they now hope to increase their living standards by joining a productive and sustainable value chain.
This project began in Pombaaq, a community near El Estor, a town in the Izabal Department. At the site, 54 ethnic Qʼeqchiʼ men and women have come together to establish the region’s first palm oil association.
The government has allocated Q4.4 million (~$560,000) towards the project, providing it with plantations, raw materials, agricultural tools and machinery, as well as technical assistance and institutional support.
On the private sector side, NaturAceites, a palm oil company, is providing assistance to those who will soon enter the association’s Producer Program. According to Program Manager Brandon Castañaza, NaturAceites’ assistance includes technical support in the pre-nursery, nursery, planting and production stages.
“By establishing plantations under this program, we’ll manage to improve rural development. The surrounding communities benefit from direct and indirect employment and greater trade,” Castañaza adds.
Emilio Rax, treasurer of the Pombaaq Comprehensive Agricultural and Agroforestry Development Association (ASOPOMBAAQ), belives the community will see “a great change due to palm planting. It will allow us to have a good future."
Meanwhile, Hugo Caal, who leads ASOPOMBAAQ, emphasizes that his organization is happy to count the government and NaturAceites among its backers. He knows it is a long-term program meant to benefit those that are entering the industry.
Setolox will be the second palm oil-producing community
Pombaaq was the first to join the project; in three years’ time, it will begin harvesting palm oil. In 2024, Asetolox, another village close to El Estor, will also join the palm growing program.
130 hectares have been planted in Pombaaq; Setolox’s plantation will have 90 hectares. Hermelindo Bac, from the Association of Agricultural and Forestry Producers of Setolox (ASETOLOX), laments that until now, locals have relied on their corn, bean and rice crops, but “have not made any progress or attained any form of development to support our families."
For these communities, palm oil enables development, which has proved elusive. For Mateo Sub, ASETOLOX’s president, this explains why they have come together to manage the aid received from the government and NaturAceites.
Romel Reyes, who directs the Sa’kamonil Agricultural, Comprehensive, Social and Sustainable Development Association, remembers that the Polochic region, of which El Estor is a part, remains frightfully poor in terms of health, education and rural development.
Therefore, the establishment of the Palm oil Association is a refreshing change for organizations that seek to foster development via industrialization and productive agricultural export projects.
“In the last 20 years, many communities have benefited from added legal certainty and the grant of title to their lands. Companies like NaturAceites, have shown a willingness to support us. This is how the first palm community was born—with economic support from the state and with technical support from the private sector,” Reyes says.
“The communities are changing the way they see the future. The projects will bring better health, education and trade channels. When producing, the communities will benefit from a long-term contract offered by Naturaceites,” adds the president of the Sa’kamonil Development Association.