IARD student finished his Field Research in Costa Rica, Central America

Luis Losilla,field research

The name of research is LINKING SMALL FARMERS TO HIGH-VALUE CHAINS: A Case Study of inclusive business models in the Costa Rican pineapple (Ananas comosus) sector.



During the last three months (April 19 – July 18) he was in Costa Rica making the field research for his thesis. In the first weeks, he had to schedule meetings with agents of some institutions that are closely related with the pineapple sector in Costa Rica such as the Costa Rican National Chamber of Commerce (PROCOMER), the Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) and the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters (CANAPEP) to gather information on the the pineapple agri chain.



After finding the companies to develop the study, managers were interviewed to get to know better the business model under which they work. Then, producers who have worked with these companies were contacted to make the respective surveys. The field work was done in the North Region of Costa Rica with some logistic support of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness of the University of Costa Rica.



The field research gave me the opportunity to really get to know the population of my research. I had the chance to know the position of the “both side of the coin” (producers and companies), which I consider allows me to make a clearer and more impartial analysis of the topic.
I personally consider that a factor that enriched the experience in the field research was the visit of my tutor, Jun-Prof. Dr. Meike Wollni who supervised part of the work done with the small and medium-scale farmers in Costa Rica.
I really appreciate the opportunity that DAAD offered to me to have done this field research in Costa Rica. It gave me the opportunity to work in a topic that is not only interesting to me, but that also is transcendent for an important agricultural sector of my country.