REPORT ON ADI ACTIVITIES IN EL SALVADOR – September, 2005

Programa de Fortalecimiento de la Competitividad de los Agronegocios

The PFCA, an agribusiness competitiveness project funded by the Fondo Salvadoreño Para Estudios de Preinversión (FOSEP) and the Salvadoran Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) began as a pilot project in February, 2004. The PFCA resolves technical problems of Salvadoran by supporting local universities with equipment and technical expertise, executing research projects and implementing results, transferring technology ¨from the university laboratory to the beneficiary’s field or processing plant.¨ For example, during the pilot project, the PFCA supported two companies, La Canasta (a medium sized food processing company), and el Grupo Agroindustrial del Pacifico, or GAP (a joint venture between two citrus producers) in developing a total of 8 products (four dehydrated spices, and four different citrus teas and flavorings), with the direct involvement of la Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeón Cañas (UCA) and Universidad Dr. Jose Matías Delgado, respectively. The project donated laboratory equipment to these universities, and connected local researchers with Texas A&M food processing experts, leaving the local universities (which had no prior experience developing food products for industry) with equipment and know how to benefit other food processors. Furthermore, the PFCA co-financed with La Canasta to import a food dehydrator from India, allowing the company to expand processing capacity six-fold, and to for the first time standardize their products and ensure quality, which in turn allows the company to commercialize the four products developed by UCA. The PFCA also worked with the GAP on their business plan with the hope that it can access the credit required to begin commercializing the products developed by Universidad Dr. Jose Matias Delgado. 

The PFCA also supported the University of El Salvador (UES) with funds to purchase reactors, and the technical expertise to conduct El Salvador`s first genetic classification of a product. Researchers in El Salvador had long suggested that there existed 8-14 varieties of Loroco, a widely consumed edible flower with high export potential but several production and post harvest problems. Research institutions published cultivation recommendations for this product, and producers often tried to implement suggestions with varying results. One hypothesis many producers shared was that perhaps researchers were working with varieties ¨A, B, and C¨ while producers were working with varieties ¨E or F,¨ and that explained differences in results. The genetic classification of Loroco project, which needs to be validated and supplemented with field characterization research, showed no genetic differences among samples, suggesting that there is only one variety, and that differences in results are in fact due to soil characteristics, access to water, agronomic practices, access to sunlight, etc;

The PFCA trained about 100 food processing company representatives, government and NGO extensionists, and university professors on five processing topics: canning, dehydration, freezing/refrigeration, modified atmosphere, and quality control. The project also trained about 400 shrimp producers in enterprise budgeting. Through the project, a university food technology curriculum was improved, and a curriculum for a Minor in Agribusiness Management was created at the University of El Salvador.

Based on positive results, the PFCA was extended for another year with triple the funding, and is slated to begin mid-October. The PFCA will implement 5 research and technology transfer projects working with local universities to benefit processors, cooperatives, and entrepreneurs. It will also deliver agribusiness-related training in Cooperative Management, Risk Analysis and Management (directed at banks that lack risk analysts), and Rural Entrepreneurship. The PFCA will take Cooperative Management and Enterprise Budgeting short course curricula and train a minimum of 2,000 producers. Finally, the project will establish an Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Center at a local university, which will provide business-planning support to agriculture-related entrepreneurs. Please check this website in November 2006 for project results.