General Information
Business Idea: Expand their small business of
producing and selling plantains. Wants to cultivate skills in order to run her micro-enterprises more effectively and
efficiently.
Communtiy Name: Pueblo Nuevo
Community Members Involved: Lucia Gonzalez, her
husband Licamio Dorbiana, and her two sons, Ariel and
Roberto.
Business Description
Lucia Gonzalez is a plantain farmer in Pueblo Nuevo. She operates on a parcel of land that is known as tierra colectiva - collective land. She does not own it, but rents it from a nearby community for $100/hectare. She currently cultivates 4 hectares of land. She works with her husband and son, who help her maintain and harvest the crop, and they travel with the product to sell in Panama City, though she is the only member of the community bank. She has applied for and received a loan of $500 from the community bank, which she has paid off. She has recently taken out a new loan for $600. When asked why she chose such a hard line of work rather than raising animals or making artisan crafts, she replied that she enjoys working the land, and also that her product is always in high demand. Lucia has been re-selling other community members' crops in Panama City for a profit.
Current Status:
Business Information:
• She has been working on collective land in the neighboring community of Arimae, which is about
an hour walk.
• She has taken a $600 loan in order to pay for fertilizer, pest control, rent for the land, field work,
and new seedlings. She is making all of her payments on time.
• She aims to clear more land in order to plant more plantain trees. On the one hectare of land she
rents, she can fit 500 trees.
• With her business she provides the majority of the income for her family. Her son takes the
harvested plantains into Panama City to sell at a higher profit margin.
• They have been so successful selling plantains in Panama City that they buy harvests from other
producers in Pueblo Nuevo and sell those in Panama City for a profit.
Business Opportunity:
• Lucia is a member of the community bank, and is taking financial education workshops provided by
Global Brigades.
• Plantains are a crop that are always high in demand.
• Once planted, plantains need approximately 6 months to grow until they produce. After that, they
can be harvested multiple times in a season.
• Selling the plantains in Panama City earns them more money than if they only sold them nearby
or in the community.
• Her $600 loan can improve her production, and she is paying it on time, demonstrating that she is
learning proper money managing techniques.
Business Obstacles:
• There is no shortage of plantains, so sometimes market prices do not always provide favorable
selling points.
• The land she works on is not owned by her, and she has to pay rent of $100/hectare rent every
year, so $400 total.
Your Task
• Create a business plan with Mrs. Gonzales.
• Provide appropriate financial literacy tools and education for future business decisions
• Conduct research and evaluation to ensure feasibility of proposed changes within the community.
• Based on your recommendations, update/supplement this business profile.
Brigade Log
| Business Brigades Chapter |
Date | Volunteers |
| University of Southern California | January 2015 | 5 |
| UT Austin | May 2015 | - |
| University of Missouri | January 2016 | 5 |
| Texas, Houston, and Birmingham | August 2016 | TBD |
Visit Other Programs in Pueblo Nuevo
Global Brigades strives to implement a model of Holistic Development in communities through a system of health, economic, and education initiatives in order to strategically meet a community's development goals. Learn more about the other programs being implemented in Pueblo Nuevo:
Dental 
Environmental 
Human Rights 
Medical 
Microfinance
Public Health