El Salvador Invests in Reducing Dependence on Imports

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a foreign aid agency
that aims to combat poverty around the world. A year and a half ago,
they granted El Salvador $461 million - well, they granted the
organization Fondo del Milenio de El Salvador (Fomilenio) the money,
and that organization has committed to using the majority of that
money on developing productive and profitable agriculture in the
northern parts of the country, la zona norte. The goal of Fomilenio
aligns with MCC; they seek to reduce poverty while growing the
economy, and their work is aimed entirely in the northern zone of the
country. Fomilenio describes the grant's purpose as a way to
strengthen the farmer's access to markets, improve their productivity,
and increase overall sustainability and quality of product.

Five products were identified as the most economically important in
the region: Hass avocados, pineapples, tomatoes, plantains, and cacao.
Hass avocados are a variety developed in the U.S. using a strain from
Guatemala, and now dominate the worldwide market. El Salvador consumes
about 12 thousand tons each year, but only produces a little over 2
thousand tons. Pineapples are the second most cultivated crop in the
world after bananas; El Salvador imports 12 thousand tons and produces
8 thousand tons. Tomatoes are another economically important crop;
approximately 70 thousand tons are imported to satisfy the local needs
- only 28 thousand tons are produced in the country, demonstrating a
major gap between demand and supply. Two crops that Fomilenio is
hoping to boost for the export market are cacao and plantains. Cacao
(Theobroma cacao), also called cocoa tree, is an evergreen tree native
to El Salvador. Its seeds are used to make cocoa powder and chocolate,
and typically fetches a high return on investment. Plantains are the
other crop Fomilenio would like to see grown in increasing numbers. El
Salvador is the third largest importer of plantains in the world, and
according to experts from Fomilenio, it is a profitable crop that can
be a viable alternative to sugarcane production. Under irrigation, the
production levels could be very high; Fomilenio believes 130 thousand
hectares of land could be devoted to this crop.

Most of the funds from MCC are going towards improving the road,
carretera Longitudinal del Norte, which runs the breadth of the zona
norte. Improvement in this infrastructure will allow easier and faster
market access. This $380 million project, apart from easing
transportation for agricultural products, benefits the 423,000
residents along that road (about half of the total population of the
zone). Fomilenio is also investing in extending electric lines over
400 kilometers in the area, installing 400 solar photovoltaic systems
in places where it is too difficult to bring the electric lines,
providing 25 communities with potable water, and offering two thousand
training courses for farmers wanting to begin or increase production
of agricultural products. Fomilenio firsts wants to see farmers
selling their products in the large stores, such as SuperSelectos and
Wal-Mart, but then their eyes are on the export prize. My hope is that
they at least develop these agricultural businesses in a sustainable
way, being considerate of the environment while working to achieve
financial success. Time will tell...