When Precision Becomes Power: Guatemala's National Grafting Competition

In 1963, Guatemalan agricultural engineer Efraín Humberto Reyna developed a grafting technique that changed coffee production across Central America. The Reyna Graft combines disease-resistant rootstock with high-quality coffee varieties, strengthening plants against pests while improving yields and sustainability.

Sixty years later, that precision work has become an income source for Guatemalan women and their families. And in 2026, IWCA Guatemala is celebrating it with a National Grafting Competition.

What This Competition Actually Is

Seventy women from across Guatemala's coffee regions will compete in a two-day event that tests both technical skill and leadership. Regional winners advance to the national competition. First place earns $650. Second place earns $390. Third place earns $220. Every participant receives training, recognition, and connection to a network that extends beyond their home region.

This competition is vital to the future and health of the coffee industry in Guatemala. It's infrastructure. Women who graft coffee seedlings earn income. Women who graft well earn more. Women who compete and win gain visibility that opens doors to contracts, leadership roles, and influence in their communities.

How It Works

Participants travel from their hometowns to a retreat venue. Day one: an evening of leadership training and community building. Day two: competition morning, awards, and return home. Total investment: $11,200 to cover transportation, lodging, meals, materials, prizes, and leadership development.

The goal isn't just to crown a winner. It's to make grafting an essential tool that more women learn, practice, and teach to the next generation.

Why This Matters Beyond Guatemala

IWCA chapters define their own priorities based on what women in their regions actually need. In Guatemala, that's technical skill development that translates directly to income and sustainability.

In other chapters, it looks different. But the pattern holds: women identifying barriers, building programs to address them, and drawing on a global network to make it happen.

When you support IWCA's work, you're not funding a single program. You're supporting a system where one woman's advancement strengthens the whole network. That Guatemalan woman who wins the grafting competition? She mentors five others. They raise quality standards at twenty farms. Cooperatives increase prices. Families send daughters to school.

One becomes a thousand.

Support reaches chapters like Guatemala through our partnerships with Caribou Coffee and the legacy of roastmaster Amy Erickson, which directs proceeds to chapter-led initiatives across the IWCA network.

Learn more about IWCA Guatemala at mujeresencafeguatemala.org or follow @iwcaguatemala on Instagram.