Hello, who are you?

I’m Rudy Omar Mejía. I am a business administrator, graduated from the National Autonomous University of Honduras. After graduating, I was a consultancy for the ETEA Foundation (Agricultural Technical School) of Jain University, Spain, developing training in administrative, accounting and organizational aspects of coffee producers. From this experience, I joined the School of Coffee Business Administrators, developed by IHCAFE (the Honduran Institute of Coffee) with the financial and technical support of Spanish Cooperation (Jicatuyo Foundation, AHPROCAFE), continuing to train coffee producer organizations in strengthening their business skills. I am now the Director of School of Coffee Business Administrators and Director of the Technical Career University in Coffee Business Administration, an alliance created between IHCAFE and the UNAH that offers higher level courses aimed at young people in the coffee sector.

What are your roles and responsibilities as National Innovation Facilitator?

I joined CDAIS in August 2016 during the national facilitators training workshop in Santa Rosa de Copán, when the concept of agricultural innovation systems was introduced, as strategic alliances already created or in the process of formation, to which a catalyst agent that allows innovation is injected, with the main actors and areas of intervention defined. Since September 2016, the identification of strategic niche actors was made and the needs assessment process began. The tools that were used during this stage allowed for a self-analysis of the organizations led to a deep reflection on how past experiences, as a basis to build capacities to strengthen them as an organization.

What has CDAIS changed for you?

CDAIS has allowed me to learn and understand a new methodology focused on group management. In this sense, knowing the methodology has opened my mind from the point of view of capabilities. Although functional capacities always play an important role, I had not reflected on them, as I had previously focused more only on the development of technical skills. The tools that I used during the capacity needs assessment have helped me a lot to reflect on the specific needs of an innovation niche, as well as to understand the current state of the innovation. I have also used some of these tools in the development of other projects.