Maya Ixil: Strengthening Economic Opportunities for Indigenous Farmers in Guatemala
With towering oaks, gushing waterfalls and long green stretches of bountiful coffee trees, Guatemala’s Maya Ixil region is a place of lyrical beauty. But listen closely enough, and the lyrics tell an entirely different story—a story of an ugly past marked by heartbreaking violence.
In the 1980s, more than 7,000 indigenous men, women, and children were indiscriminately killed as part of a government-sponsored campaign against the Maya during the country’s brutal civil conflict. Many people fled to the mountains to escape the genocide, only to face starvation, illness, and unabated aerial bombing. In the end, somewhere between 70 and 90 percent of indigenous Ixil villages were destroyed.
Rebuilding After Violence
In 1998, as the worst of the violence subsided, 28 community members came together with the goal of revitalizing economic opportunities in their devastated region. They founded Cooperative Maya Ixil to unite coffee farmers seeking better incomes and opportunities.
“With the cooperative’s help, now we can sell coffee at a higher price. It’s helped our entire family,” says Susana Rodríguez Pérez, the cooperative’s accountant. “For my family, the cooperative has allowed us to study, to put nutritious food on the table, and buy more land.”
In 2005, the cooperative received its first loan from Root Capital—$50,000 that helped them provide their farmers with timely payments for their coffee. Since then, Root Capital has disbursed almost $3 million in cumulative lending that has helped the business grow from less than 30 to more than 200 members.
“With Root Capital’s financial support, Cooperative Maya Ixil has been able to improve and increase the volume of coffee that we’re commercializing,” says Susana. “And paying our members is much easier than before.”
Doubling Down on Impact
In turn, the Maya Ixil cooperative is providing major benefits for its members, including credit for farm maintenance, seedlings and inputs for renovation, a food security program to promote family gardens, and training in organic farming techniques.
“I’m learning to become a better coffee producer,” said one Cooperative Maya Ixil member. “When I wasn’t in the cooperative, I grew coffee how I felt like doing it, inadequately . . . but now I’ve developed and know how to plant [new] coffee, manage shade, conserve the soil.”
In addition to credit, Root Capital has provided Maya Ixil with more than 250 days of on-site training, helping the business improve its financial planning and governance to build long-term resilience. In the face of volatile coffee prices, we have also supported the cooperative’s efforts to diversify into honey production, securing an alternative income stream for farmers.
Poverty in the region is still widespread and deeply entrenched, but the cooperative has made good on its promise to improve the quality of life for members: In 2013, Maya Ixil members reported incomes that were more than double that of non-member families. As the business continues to grow and reach more farming families, this once-marginalized community has a chance at a new beginning.
Information in this client profile is up-to-date as of publishing time.