Project Overview
Recognizing the hardships of starting any type of business, the Corporación Juvenil para el Desarrollo de Comunidades Sostenibles (CJDCS) prioritized, through the AgroInnova program, providing a training experience with both conceptual and practical components, unorthodox outreach and recruitment methods, and meaningful hands-on technical assistance for beginning farmers/ranchers. The program, designed for 140+ participants, included 10% Military Veterans and 70% socially disadvantaged individuals; 5 formal value-added enterprises that used locally grown products; and 5 experienced farmers/ranchers who served as mentors and provided technical assistance to empower the next generation of beginning farmers/ranchers through agricultural business development. It was expected that 65% (91 participants) would complete the 6-month training cycle and 5 certifications, followed by a hands-on mentorship and an apprenticeship component in the field supervised by experts in agriculture. Two cycles of 29 educational workshops (26 AgroInnova and 3 Sacred Heart University), 5 of which were hands-on practical experiences on farms, were provided during the year, including the facilitation of five certifications per cycle. As of September 14, 23 workshops and 3 visits had been completed, with 1 workshop and 2 visits remaining. These were later completed on September 20th (workshop) and September 23rd and 30th (both visits), with a change in dates due to the teachers. Sagrado provided the certifications up to that date, and due to the date change, 1 certification is still pending.
Number of Participants: 99
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