Motivating Grape Producers to Innovate in Colombia

One of F2F Colombia’s most important partner organizations is CorpoValle, a non-profit development agency focused on agricultural development projects in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca department. They support 65 smallholder agricultural associations comprised of 3,200 fruit and vegetable growers from 29 municipalities, impacting approximately 12,000 people. F2F Colombia has completed eight volunteer assignments with 11 different associations under CorpoValle.

One of these was with ASOPROUVAS, a smallholder farmer association that produces Isabella grapes in the El Cerrito municipality. ASOPROUVAS currently works with 50 producers that grow about 600 tons of grapes every six months. Although about 90% of the ASOPROUVAS associates are actively involved in the organization, by December of 2019, when the volunteer arrived, most were still selling their produce independently. Individual selling is an issue because it increases the likelihood of opportunistic behavior by buyers, reduces their market power, and prevents them from achieving economies of scale to reduce their costs.

The volunteer that flew to Colombia to support ASOPROUVAS is Bryan Dodson. Bryan holds a master’s degree in Management Science and has been a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer more than 30 times in Central Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central America. Before his assignment, Bryan had several online meetings with representatives from ASOPROUVAS and conducted a market analysis of grape and grape-related goods in the U.S. to analyze the potential to develop new products. These included goods not produced or commercialized in Colombia, and seeing them motivated the farmers to innovate. As ASOPROUVAS’ President, Jaime Arana explained, “Bryan opened their eyes to the possibility of diversifying their products”.

F2F Volunteer Bryan Dodson and ASOPROUVAS' President Jaime Arana presenting together.

Once in El Cerrito, Bryan toured their pulp processing plant and visited a table grape sorting and distribution center, a juice processing facility, and the country’s largest pulp producer. Bryan also conducted an in-country market survey and held meetings with ASOPROUVAS representatives and potential commercial partners. He explained to the association the importance of finding common buyers and selling collectively to guarantee better prices and stable incomes. Since January 2020, most of the associates have come together to sell 15 tons of grapes per week; five tons go to a purchaser for supermarket stocking in Medellin and 5 tons are purchased by a pulp processing plant. By selling together they guarantee purchasing as well as higher prices.

At the end of his assignment, Bryan recommended that they identify potential needs and customers and strategically create offerings to meet new market demands. Following Bryan’s recommendations, some of ASOPROUVA’s producers decided to sell their table grapes in small trays that could easily be sold in supermarkets for household consumption. At the end of July, these producers signed an agreement with one of the biggest supermarket chains of the region and received the first order of 2,500 trays!

Preparing the trays of table grapes, in July 2020.

Members from ASOPROUVAS have said that Bryan’s support and advice was vital, as it made them feel proud of their work as farmers and motivated them to work hard to benefit their fellow members. They also credit his support with empowering them to come together to grow, both personally and collectively. It was this confidence that encouraged them to ask Colombia’s National Institute for Learning (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje – SENA) for support, which agreed to provide them with free trainings on drip irrigation and Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). This will help them to comply with certifications and will guarantee better prices.

Although Bryan’s recommendations have only been implemented for a few months, Mr. Arana says that they can already feel the difference. The farmers are less stressed, and their client base has expanded. Mr. Arana credits Bryan with “igniting that spark that motivated them to commercialize their produce after being too scared to do so for 17 years”. ASOPROUVAS remembers Bryan’s advice with gratitude and positivism.

Through volunteers like Bryan Dodson, USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program supports smallholder farmers in developing countries that promote local economic development while improving the quality of life of those most in need.