Guatemala
Demand is growing for both soybeans and for defatted soy flour thanks to a World Food Program Project distributing soy fortified maize flour to undernourished pregnant and lactating women and six to 24 months old children. Exports of U.S. defatted soy flour are increasing thanks to this and other new products being developed in Guatemala. WISHH also collaborated with ASA-International Marketing consultants to give technical assistance to food processors in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Food companies in all three countries have equipment that they want to use to incorporate soy into the foods they make and sell in the local markets. This type of technical assistance is valued highly and opens the door for increased sales of U.S. soy ingredients.
In 2008, WISHH staff and consultants offered technical assistance for the installation and related education on the use of soydairy technology. The project was done in collaboration with Rotarians from Guatemala and Honduras who purchased three SoyCows but needed whole soybeans to feed the SoyCows for one year and the necessary training on how to install and use the beans. Through the World Soy Foundation, 20.4 metric tons of soybeans, enough to feed the three SoyCows for a year, was donated by eight North Dakota and Minnesota firms collectively known as the Northern Food Grade Soybean Association. The three SoyCows, two in Guatemala and one in Honduras, are currently producing soymilk for children who need protein enhancement in their diets.
In 2004, WISHH was involved in the development of cooperative projects that curb malnutrition and develop small business. Florida-based Food For the Poor (FFP) received more than 800 metric tons of Textured Soy Protein (TSP) and other soy products to help feed more than 50,000 undernourished children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased the products in the 2004 McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
The Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) shipped 400 metric tons of the TSP while the Solae Company shipped the other 400 metric tons. The soy proteins were used in the country’s mother-and-child health and education programs that increased protein in the diets of 50,000 mothers and children in seven regions of Guatemala. WISHH led a delegation of U.S. soybean farmer leaders to Guatemala to see this and other nutrition and business development programs at work.
WISHH signed a protocol with the Guatemalan government and local organizations to work toward getting more soy into Guatemalan feeding programs, thus creating business opportunities for local companies and improved nutrition for local populations.
In Guatemala, meat is not readily available to the poor. Soy is easy to adapt to local diets including beans, rice and vegetables that are locally available.
