Innovation

Based on the institution's three pillars: education, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion, Ficohsa introduced three innovations. Regarding education, the Ficohsa Foundation supports pre-primary education with their program “Quality Education”. “Mujeres Adelante” is another program that empowers women entrepreneurs with financial and non-financial products and belongs to the second pillar, entrepreneurship. Last but not least, there are two programs on financial inclusion. One is called Fintech “TENGO” and the other one “De Mi Tierra”, which will be the main focus regarding Ficohsa’s innovations.

De Mi Tierra

Since 2008, this initiative has provided small producers in rural areas of Honduras with access to financing for agricultural production, technical training, and a secure market for the sale of their products. The project is a strategic alliance between Supermarkets "La Colonia", Fundación para el Desarrollo Empresarial (FUNDER) and Ficohsa. This program has become one of the main contributions in support of small producers, with a sustainable impact in its areas of influence. It shows clear improvements in the living conditions of the communities, where hundreds of low-income families, single mothers, ethnic minorities, and others benefit.

The program addresses SDG 1 “No Poverty” and especially target 1.4: “By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance”. So far, + USD 7.8 million in funding has been generated for agriculture and +2,700 credits were granted to date in 11 departments of Honduras, benefiting +100 communities for the production of +40 products. 

Furthermore, the innovation “De Mi Tierra” contributes to SDG 2 “Zero Hunger”. It especially focuses on target 2.3: “By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment” and 2.4: “By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality”. The program pays special attention to family farmers in Honduras and also trains them on resilient and sustainable agricultural practices to ensure a durable business. In addition, +USD 33.6 million in purchases by "La Colonia" supermarkets, who went to the producers of the program so far and also 84 million pounds of products have been marketed to date.

Moreover, the project also recorded a 14% increase in the number of women participating in the program, which contributes positively to SDG 10 “Reduced Inequalities” and especially to target 10.2: “By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status”. 

Inspiration

Karla Simon described her initial inspiration as a desire to gain a thorough understanding of what sustainability really is and how sustainability can be incorporated into a business. Karla also discussed a strong desire to change the world of corporate social responsibility in Honduras and enact change in a financial context. Change within a business is often seen as more of a marketing tactic to most people; However, Karla's goal was to make a real difference; she was able to derive inspiration from Stephen Mich, who said, “ a company cannot function in a failed society”. Karla stated that she wanted to “create real business-driven change.” 

“My aspiration is precisely to generate transformational change, a different business culture and a different way of doing business.” Incorporating sustainability is important in a business context, particularly Ficohsa, as it encourages growth. The world is developing, and people are growing, and it is important that, as a business, Ficohsa is able to keep up and stay informed. Implementation of these practices has allowed for the company framework and society to grow. Through the implementation of different initiatives such as the “De Mi Tierra” program, Karla has been able to achieve her goal of understanding sustainability and incorporating corporate social responsibility into a business. These initiatives align with that of many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

Overall impact

The overall impact of the innovations is to satisfy the needs of Ficohsa’s groups of interest, for example, the local farmers in Honduras through the program “De Mi Tierra” to fight poverty and contribute to Honduras's social, environmental and economic development. Karla talks about the success story of a local farmer, Don Wilmer Garcia, who provided a better quality of life for himself and his family after participating in the program. Karla points out that thanks to the “De Mi Tierra” program, Don Wilmer Garcia was able to buy a small house for his family and a computer for his daughter. Due to the cooperation with the "La Colonia" supermarkets, he could demand a higher and reasonable price for his products.

When “De Mi Tierra” was founded, the program started with 16 local producers, one product, potato, three regions, 864, 000 Lempiras in agricultural financing, and 15 loans. Fifteen years later, agricultural financing increased to 107 million Lempiras, 40 different products, 2, 500 producers, 48 communities, and 1, 460 loans.

Furthermore, due to The Ficohsa Foundation, improvements in preschool education have been implemented, and now 157, 000 children can benefit from Ficosha’s involvement in supporting primary education, especially in relation to financial education. Moreover, the children benefited from donations of computers. Three hundred teachers have been trained to date, and 151 preschool centers are supported.

To summarize, Karla believes it is crucial to focus on entrepreneurship, education, sustainable financial solutions, and employee well-being to make innovations work and generate value for society.

Business benefit

Ficohsa, evolution from Corporate Social Responsibility to a focus on sustainability and resilience, has benefitted in its business operations, growing its positive impact across Central America. Guided by their three main pillars, financial inclusion, gender equality and educational support, the institution strongly ensures community well-being while advancing its business. 

Through its digital and financial services, Ficohsa has achieved a 25% annual increase in transaction volume, largely driven by accessible digital platforms and services adapted to needs of women and underserved communities. This helps its growth in income as well as in customer satisfaction and retention, with over 2.5 million clients engaging with its products and services, such as the fintech “TENGO”, which aims to financially integrate 200,000 vulnerable individuals over the next five years. Fintech has facilitated the financial inclusion of 60,000 people that represents 8 million digital transactions. 

With the help of their 6,800 employees who contribute to the mission of supporting education for over 176,600 youth in Honduras, through the diverse projects that the Ficohsa Foundation employs. This effort reinforces Ficohsa’s role as a community leader, strengthening regional well being and employee loyalty. 

The company’s dedication to regional development further enhances its brand reputation and market presence, drawing on collaborations with influential organizations like the Partnership for Central America (PCA). Together, programs like “De Mi Tierra” and “TENGO” allow Ficohsa to meet community needs while creating lasting social and economic impact, aligning the company’s business success with meaningful community empowerment.

Social and environmental benefit

The three pillars of Ficosha of sustainability are education, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion. As described by Karla Simon throughout the interview, Ficohsa has had the opportunity to implement and take part in many initiatives that benefit and enhance society and the environment. Everything done in different areas of the organization is oriented to their social and environmental commitment. These accomplishments have been demonstrated through initiatives such as the “De Mi Tierra” program. This initiative is beneficial to society as it helps target areas such as poverty and hunger, and it is also beneficial to the environment. The “De Mi Tierra” program also focuses on environmental issues as it supports small local farmers instead of big agrobusinesses, who can contribute to small-scale sustainable farming practices.

Diving deeper into sustainability, Ficohsa has also taken part in green financing, which entails making smart investments that support sustainable financing practices. The green financing program has been able to support 15 renewable energy projects across Honduras; these projects include the use of solar energy, biomass and hydroelectric. Renewable energy allowed for USD 10. 2 million in disbursements in 2022. Green financing has also allowed for an increase in environmental education among primary school-aged children. Overall, the “De Mi Tierra” and the green financing programs have benefited the environment by supporting small-scale farmers who focus on sustainable farming practices and by implementing other sources of energy producers, which will help Ficohsa achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. 

 Ficohsa has also had the opportunity to benefit society, which is completed through education and financial inclusion. Ficohsa was created due to the need for financial education in Honduras. Since 1998, Ficohsa has reached over 8.6 million people through educational campaigns. Financial education is necessary in life, so Fichosa made it its duty to provide it to today's youth. They also have a program targeted at the inclusion of women within the workplace called “Mujeres Adelante”. This program has successfully trained over 700 women across the company on different acres and allowed over 90 women entrepreneurs to participate in fairs demonstrating their skills and products.

Interview

Karla Simon, Vice President of Social Responsibility