The participants are developing their initiatives as part of the “Fair Trade Youth Initiative,” which is promoting youth leadership and the generation of sustainable economic opportunities, through practical training, mentorship, and collaboration.
San Jose, 5 June 2026 (IICA) — Armed with their ideas and the desire to transform their communities, thirty-five young people from Central America and Mexico began a journey, seeking to transcend entrepreneurship—building sustainable opportunities through fair trade.
The “Fair Trade Youth Initiative,” spearheaded by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in partnership with the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair-Trade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC), organized this training forum to build the entrepreneurial capacities of upcoming generations linked to producer organizations.
For fourteen weeks, the participants will undergo practical training that will equip them to convert their initial ideas into concrete business proposals. Through a “learning by doing” methodology, they will identify opportunities, develop business models, and devise plans in line with the principles of fair trade, value addition, and the bioeconomy.
The initiative seeks to address a key challenge: the need to drive youth leadership and to generate economically sustainable alternatives in rural communities. The program includes virtual sessions, practical activities, personalized mentorship, and collaborative forums, working to ensure that each project is closely connected to its community and the value chains in which fair-trade organizations participate.
Furthermore, a group of young people will travel to Costa Rica to participate in a technical tour that will expand their outlook and their collaborative networks, by introducing them to the experiences of organizations that have already successfully integrated fair trade into their production models.
At the end of the process, the projects that have advanced the most will be able to access resources from a CLAC revolving fund, moving from the training phase to implementation and increasing the likelihood that the initiatives will gain a solid footing in the market.
Through practical training and mentorship, the program will encourage youth in the region to transform their ideas into sustainable businesses, connected to their communities and to fair trade value chains.
Marvin Blanco, a specialist in IICA’s Innovation and Bioeconomy Program, who is the coordinator of the initiative, explained that the project stemmed from a joint effort to utilize tools developed by the Institute in entrepreneurship and agribusiness. He stressed that the initiative seeks to contribute to production diversification and generational succession in fair trade organizations.
Xiomara Paredes, Executive Director of CLAC, highlighted the fact that entrepreneurship with a fair-trade focus not only leads to income generation but also creates valuable opportunities for individuals and their communities, while promoting environmentally responsible production.
Ángel Burgos, President of the Mexican Fair-Trade Network, urged the participants to take advantage of the training, learning from persons with experience in their organizations and sharing the knowledge gained, thus strengthening youth leadership and future decision making.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
