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APODIP, based in northern Guatemala, one of the poorest and most climate-sensitive areas, is primarily an NGO that gradually organised neighbouring Indian communities around coffee production, then cocoa. Thanks to Ethiquable’s unwavering support, APODIP has built a small chocolate paste processing plant — the only one in the country — which adds further value to their production.
Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America, but also the most culturally diverse and the one with the most dynamic economy. Its development was long hampered after the civil war of the 1980s by an alliance between the army, conservative sectors and oligarchs, leading to endemic corruption. It is a very unequal country: between Guatemala City and the rest of the country, between the many indigenous communities and the mestizos.
APODIP has a dual impact. On the one hand, it supports Q’eqchi Indian communities in achieving food self-sufficiency (subsistence farming) through a network of technicians and community promoters. On the other hand, it creates added value by processing certain products, such as coffee, cocoa and maize. The small industrial cocoa paste production unit, located in one of the poorest areas of the country, is also an important lever for development in a country still marked by very high levels of inequality.
