Fredy

Fredy, a 55-year-old with decades of experience in developing corn seeds for Guatemala's diverse and increasingly extreme microclimates, founded “Semillas La Sureña” in 2023. He left a stable job with the clear goal of strengthening Guatemala's food sovereignty. He achieves this by providing high-performance, affordable, and climate-resilient seeds to small and medium-sized farmers in rural communities in Guatemala.

The immediate impact is evident: last year, Fredy personally sold 500 bags of seeds, helping approximately 1,000 farmers to improve their crops and have better harvests. Demand for his seed continues to grow, but the business has reached a critical bottleneck: limited production capacity and limited ability to reach new rural communities.

The loan of $14,000 will be used in two key areas:

1) Grow More Seed: We'll lease 14 more acres to grow corn seed, aiming to double our output to 800 bags.

2) Boost Sales: We're hiring a great, experienced local salesman. This is a chance to give a dignified job to someone who's been out of work for almost a year and ensure we get our seed directly to rural farmers when they need it.

These investments will make a real difference right away:

- Help at least 5,000 farmers have access to better and affordable corn seed.

- Create at least 6 full-time rural jobs during the production cycle.

- Build stronger rural communities, helping farmers get better yields which means a better income for their families.