Since 1998, sugar mills in Guatemala – which are part of the Guatemalan Sugar Association (ASAZGUA), have promoted the implementation of the Better Families program to contribute to the well-being and development of the population. Since its inception, the program has trained more than 532,000 women.

The Better Families Program is an innovative model that seeks to promote Food and Nutritional Security, self-esteem, self-management, and leadership in women, as agents of change for the development and well-being of their families and their communities. The program focuses on women of reproductive age and children under five years of age.

The program is framed in the four pillars of Food and Nutritional Security: availability, access, consumption, and biological use of food. This aims to develop practices for the proper selection, preparation, and consumption of food. It also seeks a way to educate mothers in preventive health with sustainable actions to improve the condition of mother-child, family, and community. The program has a monitoring and evaluation system, with measurable and quantifiable indicators, which allows results and achievements to be measured.

Given the positive results obtained, the program has been transferred to two governments on duty in Guatemala and one in Honduras. Since 2014, the program has been executed as part of a public policy of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion of the Government of Honduras and covers more than 90% of that country. At the national level it has also been implemented by social investors: 14 companies, foundations, and international organizations with programs in Guatemala and Honduras.

For more information, please visit:

https://fundazucar.org/programas/mejores-familias