More than 300 entrepreneurs, including independent producers, organized groups, associations of producers, cooperatives and artisan groups, from 64 cantons of the country await you from April 13th to 15th in the VII edition of the Costa Rican Gustico Fair.
This year, the Gustico will highlight the activities developed by agro-producer families throughout the country. Family farming is a way of organizing agricultural, forestry, fishing, livestock and aquaculture production that is managed by a family and depends mainly on family labor, including both women and men.
According to data from the 2014 National Agricultural Census and estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, in Costa Rica there are more than 51,000 family farming ventures, of which 15.6% are led by women. Some of the main activities are cattle, coffee, fruits (rambutan, avocado, other tropical fruits), beans, among others.
For this year’s edition, we wanted to provide a space to show family farming and its contributions to Costa Rican agriculture. All this, within the framework of the celebration of the Decade of Family Farming, to which United Nations calls us, in order to contribute to the strengthening of this form of food production,”
declared the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Luis Felipe Arauz.
The fair, which will be held for the second time in La Sabana Metropolitan Park, next to the statue of León Cortes, will include the sections on Agroindustry, Crafts, Tourism, and Gastronomy.
The organization of the Gustico begins a year before, with the selection of the participating producers and their preparation. They receive training and technical assistance on topics such as Food Handling, Good Manufacturing Practices, Labeling, Innovation and Customer Service.
The objective is to promote the commercialization of products and services with added value, informing SMEs that represent the best quality of the national offer and support companies in rural areas in this process. As well as recovering traditions and cultural elements linked to the consumption of these products.
This initiative is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and has the collaboration of all public entities of the Agricultural Sector, as well as ICT, MEIC, Procomer, CNP, Micit, INA, Ministry of Culture and Youth, the PIMA, the University of Costa Rica, through the National Center of High Technology and the Center for Research in Food Technologies, Inamu, Inder, FAO, as well as private companies and international organizations and other entities such as the National Bank, Fittacori and the Cooperativa Dos Pinos who act as sponsors.
More information on the profiles of the small businessmen participating in this edition, can be found at http://feriagustico.mag.go.cr or visit on Facebook.