Alcances II

ACDI/VOCA was a subawardee to Action Against Hunger under the USAID-BHA funded Alcances II program, which helped crisis-affected households in both Guatemala and Honduras to restore, expand, and/or diversify their livelihood capacities while leveraging the communities’ links to existing market system strengthening activities to increase their access to economic opportunities. Under the Economic Recovery and Market Systems (ERMS) component, ACDI/VOCA provided context and household-specific technical assistance, facilitated linkages to both skilled and unskilled labor opportunities, vocational training through connected companies providing employment, and improved the capacities of both targeted households and key market actors.

Project Objectives

Generate 400 employment opportunities in Honduras and 300 in Guatemala
Identify the entrepreneurial potential of 125 self-employed individuals, carefully selected based on their ability to sustain their families through small businesses across various value chains, such as small stores, animal products, textiles, and other small businesses
Benefit 150 people in Honduras and 100 in Guatemala, significantly contributing to the well-being and food security of their respective communities

Project Activities

Provide context and household-specific technical assistance
Facilitate linkages to both skilled and unskilled labor opportunities
Provide vocational training and a limited number of cash transfers aimed at supporting livelihoods
Improve capacities of both targeted households and key food market actors

Project Achievements

ACDI/VOCA trained over 1,000 project participants in topics related to employability, including personal development and understanding legal benefits. In Honduras, 683 project participants found jobs, surpassing the target of 300 new jobs. In Guatemala, 424 project participants found new jobs, surpassing the target of 400. In terms of self-employment/entrepreneurship, ACDI/VOCA supported 284 project participants with business training, technical assistance, kits, and seed capital.

Employment Preferences Study:

ACDI/VOCA conducted surveys to understand the preferences of project participants related to employment. The study revealed that project participants were not interested in jobs outside their communities, as this means leaving the homestead for weeks or months at a time. Being able to do household duties daily or on weekends was crucial for project participants; therefore, most of them preferred nearby employment to minimize economic vulnerability and manage their domestic responsibilities effectively. It is important to consider that project participants were chosen based on their vulnerability: many were senior citizens, single mothers, and youth. Besides distance and offered salaries, factors such as the time of year and family dynamics influenced work decisions. For instance, in Guatemala, some families migrate together seasonally to harvest coffee, which makes it easier to work outside the community for extended periods. In contrast, in Honduras, typically only the individual relocates for work. Given the preference for jobs within or near their communities, ACDI/VOCA enhanced the employability skills of over 1,000 project participants by increasing their awareness of their rights, providing training on personal development, and providing working tools and protective gear.

Community DNA Tool:

The categorization of the intersection between available assets at the household and the capacity of project participants to take advantage of job opportunities and self-employment expansion has been usually done using qualitative methods. ACDI/VOCA used a Community DNA tool to add quantitative methods to better rank farmers based on their asset base, activities, ability, and environmental characteristics to estimate how strong or weak they are in taking advantage of Alcances II facilitated opportunities. Using this tool, ACDI/VOCA ranked participants, which helped better target training for participants.