Cargill empowers female entrepreneurs in the shrimp sector with business skills

Cargill and the Edes Business School of the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL) in Ecuador signed an alliance to carry out a training program for 100 female shrimp producers from Mexico, Central America, and Ecuador. The program will help the women access technology and technical knowledge, eliminating obstacles to improve their sources of income and enrich the industry and their communities. This partnership aligns to Cargill’s commitment to promote gender parity and women’s empowerment along its supply chains.

Together, Cargill and UTPL will develop the entrepreneurial skills of women shrimp farmers on the coast of the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico; in the Choluteca and Valle regions of southern Honduras; Chinandega in Nicaragua; and the provinces of Oro, Guayas, and Santa Elena in Ecuador, through education, so they can expand their knowledge and apply it in their respective businesses.

“We are humbled and excited to partner with UTPL to opens doors for women first, in their communities, and then in broader export markets,” said Pilar Cruz, Cargill’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “We invest in community development and education to boost economic and social resilience. Programs like this bring to life Cargill’s purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way.”

The training program will be academically led by the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, through the Fundación para el Desarrollo Empresarial y Social (FEDES) as a strategic ally of the University for the promotion and sustainable development of the communities and its Escuela de Negocios EDES as executor of the academic training.  UTPL consists of six academic modules that will be taught in the form of online studies, covering content such as: leadership, motivation, finance, digital culture, among others. The modules are focused on strengthening the skills and competencies of the female shrimp farmers.

Camilo Pinzón, general director of EDES Business School, Business School of the UTPL said, “Contributing to the social and economic development of the territories is a priority for the Academy. We recognize that through the alliance with the Continuing Education Program for Women Entrepreneurs and Cargill, we can strengthen the territorial capacities of the shrimp sector and the personal and professional leadership of women engaged in this activity”.

About Cargill
Cargill is present in 70 countries and has more than 155,000 employees around the world who work tirelessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world safely, responsibly and sustainably. Every day, we connect farmers to markets, customers to ingredients and people and animals to the food they need to thrive.

We combine 155 years of experience with new technologies and expertise, making us a trusted partner for customers in the food, agriculture, finance and industry sectors in more than 125 countries. Our collaborative work is focused on building a stronger, more sustainable future for agriculture. For more information, please visit Cargill.com 

About Universidad Particular de Loja
The UTPL is a higher education institution that emerged on May 3, 1971, in southern Ecuador, to contribute to the sustainable development of the country, through quality teaching in two study modes: face-to-face and distance, and with programs undergraduate, postgraduate, continuing education and business training. Aligned in an inseparable way with academia, research, innovation and entrepreneurship, the university is based on the humanism of Christ to be the promoter of an integral formation in values and academic competencies.

With 50 years of experience, the UTPL is consolidated into a scientific and technological park that allows experimenting and creating its own knowledge at the forefront of the 21st century, to finally - from a global vision with local application - transfer it to society, generating innovative solutions to real problems of the environment.