Three generations of Maya-K'iche' have successfully produced export-quality avocados by embracing nature-based solutions
In 2023, the COINACHI cooperative received the GLOBALG.A.P. Certification for the sustainable agricultural practices they promote in the Chipacá microwatershed, located in Chichicastenango, El Quiché, Guatemala. The high fruit yield and quality of the Hass avocado result from implementing Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) measures that focus on water and soil conservation.
In one of the plots located in front of the water catchment system, under the Keyline technique, we find Tomás Cuterez Lares, a 55-year-old founding member of COINACHI and a current producer of peaches, apples, and avocados. Accompanying him are Miguel Morales Tecún, 63, the Commercial Development Manager of the cooperative, and Juan Morales Mateo, 39, the General Manager. They consider themselves part of the next generation in this initiative.
Guatemala City, Guatemala, 30 October 2024 (IUCN). When he was eleven years old, Tomás Cuterez lost his father, an apple grower, to the armed conflict in Guatemala in the 1980s. This tragedy forced him, as the elder brother, to drop out of school and dedicate himself to farming. This challenging experience fostered a unique sense of leadership and perseverance that led him to sow the seeds in 1992 of what is now the Cooperativa Integral Agrícola Unión Chipaquense (COINACHI).
The cooperative was created with the vision of managing crops within the Chipacá microwatershed to tackle the issue of water scarcity in this region of the Guatemalan highlands, which is considered highly vulnerable to climate change.