Government of El Salvador launches ambitious Family Agriculture Plan
San Salvador, February 23, 2011 (IICA). Announcing the launch of the Family Agriculture Plan on February 21, the President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, said, “This is the government’s response to the need to achieve the integrated development of rural families, and the growth of agricultural and agrifood production. It reflects the Government’s commitment to the definitive modernization of the countryside, and to the efforts to combat poverty and underdevelopment in rural areas.”
The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Guillermo López Suárez, and other agriculture sector officials accompanied the President at a ceremony held in a municipal district of the Department of San Vicente. Among the special guests present were representatives of international organizations, including the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor Villalobos, and the Institute’s Representative in El Salvador, Gerardo Escudero.
The Plan, comprised of four programs, will benefit more than 390,000 families, especially small and medium-scale producers. IICA will be in charge of the technical support for one of the programs, which will equip small producers with basic business skills. The work will focus on farmers already integrated into the market in some way who produce 10 types of product that have the potential to perform well.
During his keynote address, President Funes referred to the spikes in international food prices. These also affect El Salvador, as the country imports a large percentage of the food that it consumes: 90% of all vegetables, 30% of beans, 30% of corn and 70% of rice. The President said that local production had to be strengthened, and 40,000 direct jobs would be created in the process.
He acknowledged the fact that the challenge could not be met without t
he support of small farmers’ organizations, cooperatives, the technical staff of many different entities and international organizations.
The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock said the Plan was geared to the individual; it would enable farmers to improve their production and integrate into markets more efficiently.
After an emotional quote from rural development expert Sergio Sepúlveda, who worked for IICA for many years, the Minister pointed out that the Plan’s four components would be supported by IICA, FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP), the Government of Brazil, the productive sector, producers’ associations, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Education, and the Technical Secretariat of the Office of the President, among others.
López Suárez stressed that the technical assistance would not only contribute to the development of the agricultural sector but would also enhance the MAG’s institutional capabilities. The joint strategy that was to be implemented involved the acquisition of knowledge and experience that would strengthen the ministry.
During his visit to El Salvador, the Director General of IICA was accompanied by the Director of Management and Regional Integration, Víctor Del Ángel, and Gerardo Escudero, the Institute’s Representative in El Salvador.
IICA to strengthen production linkages
The Director General served as the witness of honor at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between IICA and El Salvador for the implementation of agricultural and livestock activities. Minister López Suárez and the Institute’s Representative in El Salvador signed the document on behalf of their respective institutions.
Under the terms of the agreement, IICA will provide broad technical cooperation to support the second program of the Family Agriculture Plan, known as the Family Agriculture Program for Production Linkages, which will benefit more than 70,000 farming families who already have some sort of productive enterprise and links with the market.
The program will meet the demand in the marketplace by promoting production linkages to create a broad, sustainable base of agricultural businesses. The work will focus on the development of ten production chains that have the potential to generate wealth and family development: basic grains, honey, aquaculture, fruits, livestock, vegetables, coffee, cacao, handicrafts and community-based rural tourism.
“With this agreement we aim to boost the recovery of the agricultural sector in El Salvador and make it a real example in the Americas,” the Minister remarked.
Víctor Villalobos expressed his satisfaction with such agreements, which ensured that the Institute would provide effective support for the development of a new form of agriculture geared to the priorities of the countries in the hemisphere.
Gerardo Escudero was certain that IICA’s support for the program would strengthen the MAG’s institutional capabilities and quickly revive El Salvador’s agricultural sector.
Drawing on its hemispheric technical resources, the Institute will strengthen areas such as training, knowledge management, technology transfer, the development of agribusinesses and links to more and better markets, in order to improve productivity and competitiveness. It will also promote associative enterprises, rural entrepreneurship, innovation and agribusiness management, among others.
For more information, contact
gerardo.escudero@iica.int