Project Description
Farmers in the Azua district have limited opportunities to earn income or to access markets for their products. Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples San Rafael, Inc. (Cooperativa San Rafael) provides technical assistance to Peralta farmers to develop skills in organic practices and to improve the quality of their processed coffee so they can access niche markets. At the IAF, we support community-led solutions to expand economic opportunity in the Dominican Republic. Cooperativa San Rafael’s activities encourage small business growth, local entrepreneurship and market development to ensure meaningful opportunities for communities to thrive.
| Project: | Location: | Years active: | IAF grant funding: | Counterpart commitment: | Direct beneficiaries: | Indirect beneficiaries: | Program areas: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adding value to coffee through a dry mill and improving quality to increase market access | Dominican Republic | 2013 – 2018 | $457,775 | $505,860 | 1,500 individuals | 1,250 individuals | agriculture and food security job skills and enterprise development |
Talk about community-led development!
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With funds from the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), grantees Ñepi Behña and Ya Montsi Behña have developed Corazon Verde, a jointly-owned enterprise that markets products both domestically and internationally, such as bath sponges, jams, jellies and soaps, all derived from the maguey cactus, which is native to the Valle de Mezquital region of Hidalgo state in Mexico. While she waits to deliver her finished bath sponges, a coop member winds amorphous treated fibers of the maguey cactus into a single thread using a hand spindle. The thread will later be used to knit products for the cooperative Ya Montsi Behña.
Grassroots Businesses: A Virtual Artisan Fair
Over the past 50 years, the IAF has supported an incredible number of innovative and entrepreneurial groups with a common dream: transforming their lives and communities. Join us as we travel north to south through the region to see how agricultural producers and artisan groups have conquered the world with small IAF investments to grow their businesses.
Grassroots Development: 40th Anniversary
The 2009 issue of the IAF's Grassroots Development journal.
¡NOSOTROS GENTE! Afro-Descendants Telling Our Stories, Empowering Our People
On June 30, 2019, we joined the National Museum of African American History and Culture for an event with storytellers and scholars from the United States and Latin America.