Helvetas project inclusive economic and social development-Scaling up phase Helvetas projekt för en inkluderande ekonomisk och social utveckling Första fas Utvecklingsinsatsen syftar till att minska fattigdom hos landsbygdsbefolkning på västra höglandet i Guatemala genom att facilitera produktiv sysselsättning och utnyttja potential och kulturella värden i den lokala produktionen. Insatsen riktar sig särskilt till urfolkskvinnor. Totalt 26 750 familjer kommer att kunna dra nytta av tekniskt bistånd, förbättrade jordbruksmetoder, tillgång till finansiella tjänster för att utveckla sin produktiva verksamhet, samt tillgång till nationella och internationella marknader. Insatsen genomförs i samarbete med lokala företag, jordbruksorganisationer, samt med nationella och lokala myndigheter. 

Helvetas ansöker om tilläggsmedel om 79 800 000 SEK för perioden 2018-2021 för att genomföra utvecklingsinsatsen. Helvetas kommer även att tillföra egna medel om 7 200 000 SEK för expanderingsfasen som startar 2018, och viss delfinansiering kommer att tillhandahållas av kommunerna. PRODERT Scaling-up objective is: "Vulnerable rural population particularly indigenous women increase their income and productive employment by capitalising on the potential of local production and cultural values in five departments of the western highlands of Guatemala". The intervention seeks to achieve sustainable results over time and disseminate good practices of the current "Territorial Rural Economic Development Project" PRODERT, in order for the market systems to work more effectively and inclusively in favour of the poor, as well as to increase the number of beneficiaries with potential to increase income and participate in market systems (from 7,500 to 26,750 direct beneficiaries), and increasing geographical coverage from 16 to 27 municipalities in the Departments of Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Totonicapán, Quiché and Quetzaltenango. During this phase the project is expected to develop complementary alliances with potential market partners to support innovations in order to increase scale, scope and to strengthen the target groups response capacity, sustainability and resilience. According to Helvetas, due to the positive results of the previous phases of PRODERT, there is an imminent interest in the selected communities where the population has expressed strong interest to participate in the project. Until now, it has not been possible to incorporate them due to lack of funds.´Based on a previous MSD/M4P analysis, main identified constrains of the target groups to be part of the market systems are: (i) to reach a good level of associativity, (ii) lack of inclusive financial services (iii) lack of technical assistance and (iv) business development. In collaboration with different public, private and civil society actors the project with a catalyst role is expected to facilitate systemic changes in the identified constraints and Helvetas will focus on overcome these barriers. Preliminarily the intervention will support the development of 6 viable value chains with market potential and scaling up: potatoes, coffee, vegetables, handicrafts, beekeeping and sheep.

PRODERT Scaling up amounts SEK 79 800 000, for the period 2018 – 2021. Besides, as part of this intervention it is estimated that the Department of Loans and Guarantees at Sida Headquarter (HQ) will support a guarantee and capital risk instrument, the cost of the guarantee is not still defined. A mission from the Sida HQ visited Guatemala in October 2017 to start assessing this specific support. "Vulnerable rural population particularly indigenous women increase their income and productive employment by capitalizing on the potential of local production and cultural values in five departments of the western highlands of Guatemala".