AgroAmerica

Proyecto reforzamiento nutricional AgroAmérica

Agroamerica fights hunger in Guatemala’s southwest

Agroamerica fights hunger in Guatemala’s southwest

Guatemala, august 2012. Agroamerica, in partnership with the Nutritional Food Security Secretariat- SESAN [for its initials in Spanish], is carrying out the “Nutritional Reinforcement with Bananas” Project to prevent acute malnutrition in the municipalities of San Pablo and Sibinal of the department of San Marcos, which have been given priority by the government because of its high rates of malnutrition.

For three months, Agroamerica will donate 650,000 bananas to 109 families with cases of acute malnutrition and the School Boards of 220 public schools for the food snack program. With this project, 150 schools and 2,500 families will benefit weekly for a 14 week period.

For its part, SESAN will give training to the beneficiaries on the different forms for preparing and consuming the banana and its nutritional properties.

Luis Enrique Monterroso, secretary of SESAN, Luis Rivera, departmental governor of San Marcos, Bernardo Roehrs, corporative director of Agroamerica, and municipal and communal authorities participated in the inauguration of the project, held in Sibinal.

Luis Enrique Monterroso of SESAN stated: “We have already made three deliveries in Sibinal. Fifty thousand bananas weekly were distributed in 77 schools of this municipality”.

“The productive sector has always wanted to promote initiatives such as these. One of the pillars, in Agroamerica, is empowerment and community development, and with this project focused on reducing malnutrition, we can help the community overcome it. A malnourished population cannot make it”, commented Bernardo Roehrs, from Agroamerica.

Yanira Fuentes del Valle, housewife of Sibinal, stated: “This is a good project because the banana is a very nutritious fruit. The trainings will help us learn make different recipes with the bananas”.

On the news:

Telediario:

http://telediario.com.gt/index.php?id=191&id_seccion=187&id_noticia=96181

Prensa Libre

http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/comunitario/Entregan-bananos-combatir-hambre_0_763123972.html?print=1

Government of Guatemala

http://www.guatemala.gob.gt/index.php/2011-08-04-18-06-26/item/1291-entregan-alimentos-en-sibinal-san-marcos-para-combatir-la-desnutrici%C3%B3n

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Subasta de Arte AgroAmérica

Agroamerica, Art auction will help fund scholarships to study in El Zamorano

Agroamerica, Art auction will help fund scholarships to study in El Zamorano

Guatemala, Septiembre 2012. For the second consecutive year, the XNOX/BAM art auction to benefit the Endowment Fund for Agricultural Development in Guatemala of the school El Zamorano, which grants scholarships for young people from the rural areas, will take place. Currently there are four Guatemalan scholarship holders: uri Tecún, José Buezo, Pedro Carrillo and Manuel de Jesús García Chaclán.

Agroamerica provides $25,000 to the Fund to support students with limited resources, for five years. Among the scholarships holders financed by the company, is Yuri Tecún, a student from San Marcos who shares how she has excelled herself.

“My name is Yuri Tecún, I currently live in the municipality of Mixco, Guatemala, but my family comes from El Tumbador, San Marcos. I come from a low income family; my mother is a fighter who has raised my brothers and me. She does odd jobs in order to give us everything necessary and has always given us support to study. Ever since I was a child, I dreamt I had a university career so that I could help my family. Thank God, I had the opportunity to study in institutions of academic excellence. I studied at the National Central School of Agriculture (public) thanks to a full scholarship, that?s where I got interested in agriculture and enrolled in El Zamorano in 2008, the first year was funded by USAID and the last three years by the Endowment Fund for Agricultural Development in Guatemala.”

For more stories, visit: http://www.bamxnox.com/zamorano/testimonios-becarios-universidad-zamorano

The auction will have 7 works by Antonia Matos. Besides, 80 lots of internationally and nationally recognized artists will be auctioned. The auction will take place at Torres Pradera, on September 20, at 7 p.m.

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Capacitación de creación y gestión de microempresas AgroAmérica

Agroamerica trains 390 women on “how to create a productive business”

Agroamerica trains 390 women on “how to create a productive business”

Guatemala, August 2012. Agroamerica’s Happy Families program conducted training sessions for rural women from four coastal communities in Guatemala on setting up and managing a small business.

During the workshop “A Business, An Opportunity” women were taught how to conduct a feasibility study and produce a business plan, and were trained on the different steps needed to establish a small business.

Several of the participants commented that the sessions made them “open their eyes” to understand different ways to getting ahead by being enterprising and establish their own business.

Walter Tello, Community Relations Manager at Agroamerica and Happy Families program coordinator said that one of the objectives of the program is to empower women and their families so they can be independent. These workshops aim at promoting entrepreneurship among rural women by helping them to set up productive project.

As part of the program, follow up home visits to participating women to provide support and supervision have showed that the majority of women are putting into practice what they have learned in the sessions.

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Proyecto de reciclaje de papel AgroAmérica

Agroamerica has begun a paper recycling project

Agroamerica has begun a paper recycling project

Guatemala, August, 2012. Agroamerica has begun a paper recycling project, with its headquarters’ staff. The first stage of this project consisted of a training conducted by the Ecologic Network Association, organization dedicated to paper recovery and recycling.

During the trainings, the staff became aware of the importance of recycling paper. They were taught how the world deteriorates when the right measures are not taken when paper is used. They were also shown the recycling process. With this project, Agroamerica aims to recycle the largest amount of paper and embrace a culture which encourages an eco-friendly approach.

The second part of the project consisted in placing recycling boxes in strategic places in the office, like right next to the photocopy and printing machines with signs showing the do’s and don’ts of recycling.

The third part will consist in checking the boxes once a week; taking out the bags full of papers and calling the Ecologic Network so that they can pick up the paper and have it recycled.

This project will help Agroamerica create a green culture in the company and also contribute to the country’s environment.

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Conferencia de la ONU sobre Desarrollo Sostenible

Agroamerica participated in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: Rio + 20

Agroamerica participated in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: Rio + 20

Guatemala, July 2012. Bernardo Roehrs, Corporate Director at Agroamérica, represented the company at the summit of the United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last month. The topics discussed included sustainable energy in the context of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.

Mr. Roehrs spoke about the techniques the company uses in the growing of bananas, pineapples, and palm oil to conserve water and use less water. He described a machine the company uses to take measurements in the soil and how it can also be used to apply water exactly where it is needed and, therefore, not use more than is necessary. With this technology the company has seen a 20% savings in their energy use and has also been able to prevent nutrients in the soil from running off into the rivers. Roehrs said the company works diligently to share information and their own experiences with their neighbors in Central America.

During the summit, a number of topics were discussed such as the eradication of poverty; providing the latest technology to developing countries; different approaches, outlooks, models, and tools available to countries to reach sustainable development; government commitment to minimizing the deleterious effects of climate changes; and Millennium Development Goals, among others.

The conference was attended by world leaders, participants from the private sector, civil society organizations, and other groups, all with the same goals: to reduce poverty, advance social equality, and ensure environmental protection on the planet. “It’s a historic opportunity to define the pathways to a sustainable future: a future with more jobs, cleaner energy, better security, and a decent standard of living for all,” stated the organizers of the event.

Mr. Roehrs said he hopes the negotiators and the heads of state who will be discussing sustainability over the next few days will begin to work with the public sector, as well as the NGOs, the general public, and the media to help spread the message about sustainable development. He said if this happens, more people would be concerned about sustainability, driving more companies to invest in this area.

“In Agroamérica, we have social programs that focus on the needs of our people, the conservation of natural resources, community development, and sustainable production based on ethical standards,” emphasized Mr. Roehrs. “The company is concerned with future generations and is aware of these issues because there will always be new challenges which pose serious threats to sustainable development in the country,” concluded Mr. Roehrs.

Highlights of the interview with Bernardo Roehrs in the Rio+20 Summit:

http://www.rtcc.org/climate-change-tv/rio20-raising-public-awareness-to-drive-sustainability/

http://www.rtcc.org/climate-change-tv/rio20-conserving-water-with-agroamerica/

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Técnicas básicas de primeros auxilios AgroAmérica

Agroamerica trained their personnel in first aid skills

Agroamerica trained their personnel in first aid skills

Guatemala, July 2012. Last week, Agroamerica taught a first aid course to its farm personnel as a part of an overall human resources training program. This course was given by the local, municipal firemen from the area of La Blanca, in Ocós, San Marcos. The course was tailored to address the specific needs of banana farm workers.

The training lasted approximately five hours and was focused on the prevention of and attention to the most common accidents which occur on the farms and processing plants, such as: wounds, pulled ligaments, twisted ankles, hemorrhages, techniques to immobilize bone fractures, and workplace risk assessment, among others.

Both farm personnel and administrative personnel took part in the training course whose objective was to teach a group of employees to be able to actively support the doctors and nurses on staff at the farms in case of any medical emergency or accident.

“We promote these types of training courses because we care about the well-being and security of our employees”, said Bernardo Roehrs, director of Corporate Affairs.

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Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio AgroAmérica

Agroamerica and the United Nations Explore Collaborative Ways to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals

Agroamerica and the United Nations Explore Collaborative Ways to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals

Ocós, San Marcos, Guatemala, June 2012. The most recent health survey of the “trifinio” area of southwestern Guatemala conducted by the University of Colorado, Health Needs and Human Development in Guatemala’s Southwestern “trifinio” (Berman and Asturias, September 2011) revealed that mothers are suffering from food insecurity, which is manifested in their children’s health.

Last week directors from the United Nations System in Guatemala visited the company’s operations to observe first-hand the programs that Agroamerica is implementing to combat this problem, and to join forces to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals, especially to reduce infant mortality and improve maternal health in the area.

“This is a first step in this alliance between the private sector and the United Nations, which we believe has ample potential for growth,” said Ernesto Sinópoli, Representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Guatemala. “The effort and interest of the private sector to reduce the high malnutrition rates in the poorest communities is important,” said Héctor Morales, Communications Analyst at the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator.
“We are convinced that our commitment goes beyond what international conventions dictate, stated Bernardo Roehrs, Agroamerica’s Corporate Director. “We believe our alliance with the United Nations system, with good public policies, can change for the better the situation of families in the region,”

During the visit the group participated in a training session of Agroamerica’s Happy Families program which targets mothers, as well as in a meeting with ASODITSO, an organization which represents 15 communities living in the area, where not only were the area’s main needs discussed, but also several corporate social responsibility programs that Agroamerica has launched to support local communities, in the areas of health, education and disaster preparedness.

“I am very thankful with Agroamerica because they brought development to the community,” said Magaly Fuentes, a community leader, participant of the Happy Families program.

The point where the three southwestern provinces of San Marcos, Retalhuleu and Quetzaltenango converge (the “trifinio”) is an area which somehow has been neglected by government authorities, lacking in basic services including education. Thus the population living in the area has been greatly affected by malnutrition, where there is 42% prevalence of diarrhea and 58% of children suffer from respiratory diseases.

Agroamerica employs more than 9,200 direct employees and more than 18,000 indirect ones, through more than 150 suppliers of their value-chain production, offering year-round employment to small and medium suppliers.
The Happy Families program, with 11,800 direct beneficiaries, is only one of the initiatives we have throughout our areas of operation which contribute to the reduction of malnutrition, poverty and lack of education. The program has more than 60 mothers who are community leaders and more than 880 participating children in 12 beneficiary communities.

Agroamerica has become the first company nationwide to pay the -vital minimum wage- (living wage), thus improving the welfare of their employees and families. They also boast a private school where the children of their employees receive a quality education, giving them the opportunity to work with the company later on.

“We have good environmental practices, with international standards throughout the supply chain. All of our banana farms are certified by Global Gap and the Rainforest Alliance. Our palm oil farm is the first of its kind in the world to have a Rainforest Alliance certification, and the first in the country to have a UK-Kosher certificate. We have the first palm oil extraction plant and banana plant in the region to be certified with the Business Alliance for Secure Commerce. We are also members of RSPO and are currently in the process of becoming the first certified company in the region”, said Roehrs during the visit to the plantations.

“We are building a Human Development Center which soon will offer holistic development opportunities to needy individuals, families and communities living in the -trifino- area, with health, education and recreation services offered to the entire -trifinio- region inhabitants. The -trifino- region needs the attention of government authorities so that the more than 23,000 people living in more than 20 communities in the area can benefit from development projects. The region has an illiteracy rate of 26%, only 27% of the people living there have ready access to drinking water, and only 1% have adequate drainage, concluded Roehrs.

As a result of this visit, community leaders of Ocós, San Marcos, will meet in July with the FAO Representative in Guatemala to discuss possible development projects in the area, to be presented to local government to improve the region’s Human Development Index.

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Premio a la Productividad 2012

Agroamerica rewards its workers with the 2012 Fernando Bolaños Productivity Prize

Agroamerica rewards its workers with the 2012 Fernando Bolaños Productivity Prize

Guatemala, June 2012. More than 400 AgroAmerica workers were awarded the Fernando Bolaños Productivity Prize. Winners met certain criteria which contributed to their personal, economic and professional growth, as well as the company’s performance. The prize included a cash award, a certificate, a T-shirt and a cap. This yearly event was named after AgroAmerica´s founder, Fernando Bolaños.

Upon receiving the prize, Amparo Cifuentes, who weighs fruit, said: “I have never before been rewarded for anything. I am touched and very proud because we are now champions. Now with this money I can pay some debts.”

The objective of the award is to recognize good performance among workers and to motivate them to continue to strive for excellence. It rewards the best employees of each of the packing plants according to the following criteria: no sanctions, minimal absence from work, exemplary performance and more than six months of employment at AgroAmerica. Prize winners received a T-shirt, a cap and a framed certificate signed by the company’s top officials.

Additionally, the prize recognizes the collective effort of the packing plant with the largest increase in production during the year. AgroAmerica rewards its workers with a cash bonus. The more they produce, the more they earn throughout the year.

Ernesto Telón, president of San Francisco Madre Selva?s Community Development Council, said: “With this activity the company expresses its gratitude to its workers, and they feel motivated and work better. They are all winners, the employer, the worker and the community.”

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Vacunación contra la influenza AgroAmérica

Agroamerica carries out a campaign against Influenza for its personnel

Agroamerica carries out a campaign against Influenza for its personnel

Guatemala, May, 2012. Agroamerica carried out a day of free vaccines against Influenza for 200 banana farm workers. The activity was organized by the Human Resources Department and the Health Center Caballo Blanco.

The beneficiaries of this campaign were the nurses at the Health Center and local clinics, managers, administrators, block chiefs, foremen, administrative and field staff from Agroamerica’s farms.

Christian Sandoval, comptroller of the company, said: “The activity was very positive, as it would help counter diseases that occur in the rainy season. These campaigns are an added benefit for our employees”.

Doctors recommend that one should be vaccinated once a year to be protected from 90 percent of the viruses that circulate during flu season. This helps to avoid getting the flu, pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses.

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Reparación de la borda del Rio Mico

Agroamerica reinforced the riverbanks of the Mico River to protect the communities from flooding

Agroamerica reinforced the riverbanks of the Mico River to protect the communities from flooding

Guatemala, May 2012. Agroamerica collaborated with community leaders and rural villages to repair the riverbanks and dredge the Mico River in the town of Huitzitzil, Tiquisate, Escuintla. The company invested last year $6,000.00 U.S. dollars to help dredging the river and building up the riverbanks.

This riverbank reinforcement will benefit five communities that are isolated by the flooding of the Mico River. With the arrival of the rainy season, the inhabitants of these communities live in fear of having their homes and possessions carried away by flood waters in this disaster prone area.

The villages benefitted from this project are Huitzitzil, San Francisco Madre Vieja, Las Trozas, El Semillero and Ticanlú in the Municipality of Tiquisate, Escuintla. The inhabitants of these towns and the Mayor of Tiquisate expressed their appreciation for Agroamerica’s help and support.

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