El Comalote is a food business in Antigua that produces corn tortillas, nachos, tostadas, tacos, dough, tamales, and more from surplus native corn. By working with native corn they are both providing nutritious products for the city as well as improving food security through a sustainable agricultural system that benefits rural economic development and preserves native crops. As an added benefit, by buying surplus corn from smallholder farmers, they reduce food waste and help slow the rate of migration away from these farm communities by ensuring that these farmers can make a viable income to support their families. With WCK funds, El Comalote purchased industrial processing machinery and improved their post-harvest handling with new corn silos and moisture detectors. They have already increased their production by 600% and are growing their workforce to 10 full-time employees. By increasing their capacity to store and process corn, they hope to double their …
