Strategic Planning to Increase Fruit Productivity and Competitiveness in Colombia

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Jillann Richardson-Rohrscheib travelled to Colombia in November and December 2019 to train and work with staff and associates of ASOMUSACEAS and ASOPPITAYA on business plan development. Jillann holds a Masters in Intercultural Administration, International Development Management and Training and a Bachelors in International Affairs and Latin American Studies. She has been a F2F volunteer in Guyana, Haiti, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Tajikistan. 


Both ASOMUSACEAS and ASOPPITAYA are smallholder farmer associations that are being supported by CorpoValle, a non-profit development agency focused on planning, evaluating and implementing agricultural development projects in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca department. CorpoValle works with 54 smallholder agricultural associations by strengthening their business and technical capabilities. It reaches 1,700 fruit and vegetable growers in 29 municipalities, impacting 3,300 households or approximately 12,000 people. 


ASOPPITAYA is an association that produces several kinds of fruit (Yellow Pitahaya, Granadilla, and Hass Avocados) located in the Roldanillo municipality. Founded in 2001, they are one of the oldest associations that Corpovalle works with, have several big clients and six of their producers are certified by Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) while ten are in the process of being certified. However, they have not been successful at organizing their sales and have not fulfilled their growth potential. ASOMUSACEAS is an association that produces plantain (of the Dominico Harton variety), located in the Caicedonia municipality. They are also one of the biggest and best-organized associations that Corpovalle works with, currently have a processing plant to produce banana flour and at least ten of their producers are certified to export their produce. 

During her 3-week assignment, Jillann met with staff and members of both associations to learn more about what progress they had made to-date on their organizational development. She conducted several training sessions where she taught them what a 10-year Strategic Plan is, and how to break down their long-term goals into short-term achievements through a 2/3-year Operational Plan that explains how they will be using their resources. With this, the teams were able to write their Annual Action Plans that are broken down into months/weeks, and eventually daily plans, that they can use to manage their time and meet their monthly objectives, and thus the monthly/semesterly objectives of the associations. 


Additionally, based on these plans, Jillann defined what a Business Plan is, identified its key elements, and the participants created lists of activities to increase the association’s revenue streams and find markets and niches for their products. Jillann also supported the management teams of the associations by revising their Visions, Missions, and Values, and identified a few Strategic Goals. She also discussed how to use this for planning and accountability, and how to develop a budget. Jillann also visited fruit and vegetable farms of association members. 

As a result of Jillann’s very valuable support and training, both organizations are now better equipped to increase their productivity, competitiveness, and long-term sustainable management, in favor of their respective members, and by extension, their families. At the same time, Jillann enjoyed helping both associations: “Colombia is a beautiful country, rich in agriculture and culture, and the people are wonderful.”

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