Weaknesses and potential of green businesses in the Sub-regions of La Mojana and San Jorge, in the department of Sucre, Colombia

Abstract

This study was aimed to determine the weaknesses and potential of green businesses in La Mojana and San Jorge subregions in the department of Sucre. Businesses in the category of sustainable goods and services from natural resources and subsectors of the Biotrade sector were considered since they were the most representative in the area—the instrument verification sheet version 1.2 F001-2014 established by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development - MADS was used to evaluate them. The fulfillment of sustainability criteria in the evaluated subsectors and between the level of business development in the study municipalities was analyzed using the Chi-square test. As a result, weaknesses in the economic component criteria and strengths in the environmental criteria for most of the businesses were evidenced, as well as significant differences between the municipalities and subsectors. However, restructuring businesses towards sustainability is a path that requires cultural, technological, and management strengthening. This is a change that should gradually happen and must be supported by government authorities.