Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Competitiveness Innovation Productivity

Via videos, Guatemalan growers share techniques for increasing productivity in corn and bean farming

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

IICA, the WFP and the international organization Access Agriculture will promote the use of IICA videos in training growers and agricultural extension agents.

In the videos, the growers share the new production, harvest and post-harvest practices they have implemented and how these led to increased productivity on their farms.

Guatemala City, March 23, 2015 (IICA). Nine videos that recount the experience of small-scale corn and bean growers in Guatemala show that training and the adoption of innovations can increase productivity in agricultural activities.

The videos, produced by the Office of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Guatemala, are available on the IICA YouTube cannel and, thanks to an agreement with the international organization Access Agriculture , will also be available on its website AgTube .

According to the Head of IICA’s Inter-American Information and Editorial Production Center, Federico Sancho, IICA and Access Agriculture signed an agreement to make the videos available on this platform with a view to promoting the management of knowledge on agriculture and facilitating e access to a large amount of highly useful information.

The videos from Guatemala, available in Spanish, English and q’eqchi’ (the native language of at least one million Guatemalans), share the results obtained by IICA in implementing the training and technical assistance components of the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative of the World Food Programme (WFP).

The initiative received support from the Red SICTA project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and renowned agricultural anthropologist Jeffrey Bentley.

Infograph.

According to the IICA Representative in Guatemala, Keith L. Andrews, “This material will be of great help to small- and medium-scale growers because it shares the experience in Guatemala with other regions and in different languages, which will make it easier to understand and replicate. It is a tool, explained in the words of growers themselves, that will strengthen capabilities in the field.”

In the videos, the growers share the new production, harvest and post-harvest practices they have implemented with support from IICA and the WFP, and how these led to increased productivity on their farms and improvements in the marketing, quality and safety of their produce.

In addition, they explain how they have managed to control the diseases that affect their crops and share the practices they use to ensure the sustainable management of natural resources.

AgTube, of Access Agriculture, disseminates useful material in dozens of languages for growers, extension agents and journalists in the agricultural sector. The objective of the platform is to make training videos available for small- and medium-scale producers in developing countries.

This is the first time AgTube has videos in Spanish or q’eqchi’.

More information:
keith.andrews@iica.int
federico.sancho@iica.int

Videos 
Photo gallery 

Share

Related news​

Brasilia, Brasil

October 17, 2025

Macarena Valdés and Marco Aceituno, small-scale Chilean producers who have thrived under challenging conditions, will take part in the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas in Brasília

Macarena Valdés and Marco Aceituno, creators of a farm where food production has flourished despite the severe drought that has afflicted Chile in recent years, will be among the speakers at the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2025, to be held from November 3 to 5 in Brasília.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, destacó que la decisión del Banco Mundial de duplicar sus inversiones en el sector agropecuario refuerza la importancia de los pequeños agricultores y reconoce el papel de América Latina y el Caribe en la seguridad alimentaria global.

San Jose, Costa Rica

October 16, 2025

IICA Director General  welcomes World Bank’s decision to double its investments to strengthen the role of small-scale farmers and expresses willingness to work together in Latin America and the Caribbean

Otero stated that IICA stands ready to assist the World Bank in helping small-scale farmers to increase their productivity, scale up and connect to value chains that can increase their income. To that end, IICA will tap into its broad experience in the region, where it works together with various strategic partners from the public and private sectors.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

October 15, 2025

Hemispheric dialogue at IICA identifies effective governance, strategic public spending and innovative green funding as key elements to strengthen regional agrifood systems

During a hemispheric dialogue held at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), government leaders, representatives of international agencies and regional agrifood sector experts agreed on roadmaps for strengthening institutional frameworks and coordinating public policies in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins