Project Name：Corn Production Resilience Strengthening Project

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Guatemala, Central America

Project Description：

Guatemala has suffered from severe drought, hurricanes and locust disasters in the past three years, affecting the stability of domestic food production. According to World Bank forecasts, climate change will lead to a 27% reduction in domestic food production by 2030. In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic has affected the global food supply chain. This project will help small farmers in remote communities build more resilience with the help of Taiwan’s experience in developing climate-smart agriculture and farmer organization management. With the help of Taiwan’s high-quality corn hybrid seed production experience, we can assist in the production and promotion of high-quality seeds, and select high-quality strains suitable for the local climate and environment. This will strengthen the capacity and resilience of small producers to improve the efficiency and stability of corn production. At the end of the project, the yield of corn per unit area (of the beneficiary producers) will increase by 88% (from 1.6 to 3 tons/hectare) compared to the production prior to the project intervention.

Implementation Start Date：2023-03-01

Implementation End Date：2024-12-31

Project Objectives：

At the end of the project, the yield of corn per unit area (of the beneficiary producers) will increase by 88% (from 1.6 to 3 tons/hectare) compared to the production prior to the project intervention

Executing Agency：

Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) 、Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícolas ICTA、Taiwan Technical Mission in Guatemala

Current Progress：

The key achievements of the project include:

1. Selection of two superior varieties

2. Production of 8.6 hectares of breeder and foundation seeds, harvesting from 8.6 hectares, yielding 19.1 metric tons of seeds, and processing 11.24 metric tons into seeds sufficient for 720 hectares of seed production fields. Additionally, 6.0 hectares of demonstration seed production fields were cultivated, producing 20.6 metric tons of seeds and processing 9.68 metric tons.

3. Supporting the expansion of 135.5 hectares of seed production fields, resulting in 190 metric tons of seeds, sufficient for cultivating 11,750 hectares of maize. This has benefited 39,000 farming households, with an average smallholder farm size of 0.3 hectares.

4. Establishing an agricultural meteorological monitoring and early warning system to provide farmers with weather information and cultivation recommendations, enhancing the resilience of smallholder farmers in Guatemala to climate change.

Project Contact：Tingyu Chou

Phone：+886-2-28886052

E-mail：t.y.chou@icdf.org.tw