Promoting family farming as a means to tackle poverty, improve rural livelihoods and decrease childhood malnutrition

As part of its external aid to Guatemala, the EU signed a Financing Agreement to support the reduction of poverty in 22 municipalities of Quiché and Alta Verapaz in the north-central region of the country. The main intervention of such efforts is a programme promoting rural family farming by strengthening subsistence or “campesina” agriculture: Programa de Agricultura Familiar para el Fortalecimiento de la Economía Campesina or PAFFEC for short.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food is implementing PAFFEC, which also aims to increase poor farmers’ resilience to climate change, and thus is receiving support from the EU to establish an tracking and monitoring system, improve its agricultural extension programme and strengthen its capacity in public finance and results-based management. The EU is releasing the funds in tranches, and Guatemala must meet certain indicators to receive the indicated budget.