Guatemala

IFAD Asset Request Portlet

Country

Guatemala

9

Projects Includes planned, ongoing and closed projects

US$ 409.98 million

Total Project Cost

US$ 125.68 million

Total IFAD financing

134,816

Households impacted

The Context

Guatemala has made significant progress in achieving macroeconomic and democratic stability after a 36-year civil war. Since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996, the country has improved its access to international markets through several trade agreements.

Nevertheless, Guatemala, the biggest economy in Central America, has one of the highest inequality rates in Latin America. Rates of poverty, malnutrition and maternal-child mortality, especially in rural and indigenous areas, are some of the worst in the region.

The country is predominantly poor, with 49 per cent of the population living in rural areas. Guatemala is characterized by a markedly unequal distribution of wealth, assets and opportunities: between 2000 and 2014, rural poverty increased from 74.5 to 76.1 per cent, while extreme rural poverty increased from 23.8 to 35.3 per cent.

Young people and indigenous communities are the most vulnerable. Among indigenous people, who comprise almost 40 per cent of the total population, the poverty rate is approximately 80 per cent. Additionally, chronic malnutrition affects almost one half of all children under the age of five, predominantly those living in rural areas (53 per cent) and who are indigenous (61.2 per cent).

An increasingly important challenge for Guatemala is improving the levels of citizen security. High levels of crime and violence represent staggering economic costs for the country. Other major challenges for the country are the degradation of natural resources, the vulnerability to climate change, the highly unequal income distribution and the participatory inclusion of the ethnic diversity. 

The Strategy

In Guatemala, IFAD and the Government have joined forces and are working with indigenous peoples, youth and women in order to address the high incidence of poverty in the country.

Key activities include:

  • promoting a market-driven development of agricultural and non-agricultural rural businesses and microenterprises. This involves linking small-scale rural entrepreneurs with private-sector players along the value chains;
  • developing social and human capital of the communities. This means building entrepreneurial capacities, especially among rural and indigenous women and young people; supporting the legal consolidation of smallholders associations, and giving rural population access to basic infrastructure; and
  • enhancing pro-poor rural policy dialogue and sectoral planning. The target is to achieve enhanced country dialogue and sectoral planning and coordination at the national, departmental and municipal levels. A key issue in this regard is facilitating and promoting involvement of communities, particularly those that has been traditionally left behind, as is the case for indigenous people.

Country Facts

  • Guatemala has the biggest economy in Central America, but also one of the highest inequality rates in Latin America, with some of the worst poverty, malnutrition and maternal-child mortality rates, especially in rural and indigenous areas.
  • Poverty is widespread and deeply entrenched in the country with approximately 49 per cent of the population lives in rural areas.
  • Poverty is highly concentrated among indigenous communities, which comprise over 40 per cent of the total population. Figures indicate that 8 out of every 10 people of indigenous descent live in poverty.
  • Since 1986, IFAD has invested a total of US$114.7 million in eight programmes and projects related to agricultural development in Guatemala, benefiting more than 122,316 households.

Country documents

Related Assets

Republic of Guatemala Country Strategic Opportunities Programme 2022-2027 Type: Country Strategic Opportunities Programme
Region: Latin America and the Caribbean

Country Experts

Projects and Programmes

Projects Browser

Related news

Related Assets

A common path towards Guatemala’s sustainable development

September 2019 - NEWS
Today the Rome-based agencies (RBAs - FAO, IFAD and WFP) recognized the interagency country team based in Guatemala for their concerted efforts in maximizing results and impact on the ground.

Agencias de la ONU con sede Roma profundizan su colaboración en América Latina y el Caribe

July 2018 - NEWS
FAO, FIDA y WFP –las tres agencias de las Naciones Unidas con sede en Roma- están preparando planes de trabajo conjunto para Haití, Guatemala y Colombia, que incluyen la erradicación de la pobreza, el hambre, la promoción del desarrollo rural y agrícola y la prevención y gestión de desastres de origen natural.

IFAD and Guatemala’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock discuss inclusive rural transformation at regional event

July 2018 - NEWS
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAGA), hosted the second edition of the Dialogues for Inclusive Rural Transformation in Guatemala event last week.

Related stories and blogs

Related Assets

Five ways IFAD is helping to reduce rural poverty in an age of climate change

October 2022 - STORY
Even when a world without poverty seems out of reach, here’s how IFAD continues to work in developing countries, amplifying the voices of rural people and integrating them into value chains, so they can earn and save, while feeding the world and conserving the natural environment.

What I’ve learned about resilience from rural communities in Guatemala

October 2022 - BLOG
Faced with the impacts of climate change, small-scale producers in Guatemala urgently need to manage risk using tools like insurance. Read how INSURED promotes the use of agricultural insurance to build resilience and strengthen livelihoods.

From Guatemala, to India, to the sun and back: indigenous women are securing a brighter future with solar power

March 2022 - STORY
Marta had never left her community before and was nervous to travel. Many told Carmelina not to go, saying India was too far and six months was too long to be away. But despite their concerns, the two women embarked on their journey, determined to bring electricity to their communities.

Related publications

Related Assets

Grant results sheets - Inclusive growth, rural industrial policy and participatory value chains in Latin America and the Caribbean

June 2018
The project aimed to promote a more dynamic insertion of small rural producers into value chains as a way to foster structural change in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Enabling poor people to overcome poverty in Guatemal

May 2012
IFAD has supported rural poverty reduction and agricultural development initiatives in the Republic of Guatemala since 1986. During its first decade in the country, IFAD’s work was oriented towards supporting the government in consolidating the peace process and rebuilding the social fabric in zones that were affected by Guatemala’s 36-year armed conflict. It also focused on constructing an economic and institutional platform for the development of marginalized rural and indigenous communities. Over the years, IFAD operations have evolved from localized rural development.

Agritrade 2011 - Programa de encadenamientos empresariales

March 2011
El programa de encadenamientos empresariales de AGEXPORT tiene como objectivo principal la generación de empleo e ingresos en comunidades en condiciones de pobreza de Guatemala por medio de la creación de negocios exitosos basados en la asistencia técnica especializada, inteligencia de mercados, promoción comercial, capacitación e inovación tecnológica, una visión de manejo sostenible de los recursos naturales.

Related videos

Related Assets

Digital Technology and Homeworking help rural women in Guatemala recover from COVID-19

March 2022 - VIDEO
COVID-19 lockdowns meant Juana could no longer go to her job in rural Guatemala. But thanks to a loan from her local rural savings bank and IFAD’s Rural Poor Stimulus Facility, Juana started her own business at home.

Guatemala: Leveling the playing field

May 2019 - VIDEO
A group of courageous Guatemalan women set off in 2010 to form their own farming cooperative, "4Pinos" after facing discrimination in the men's cooperative.

Recipes for Change: Kak-Ik

October 2018 - VIDEO
In this episode of Recipes for Change, Italian Chef Rubio is in Guatemala to see how the Qeq'chi people are managing to conserve their traditional foods in the face of climate change.