LATIN AMERICA | EL SALVADOR

QUICK FACTS El Salvador Cacao Alliance is implemented by a consortium of partner organizations led by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and integrated by Lutheran World Relief (LWR), TechnoServe, CLUSA-El Salvador and Cáritas. The Cacao Alliance aims to: • Establish and maintain cacao

agroforestry systems. • Restore and conserve biodiversity

for sustainable rural development. • Increase income and employment

opportunities.

PROJECT PERIOD: October 2014 – September 2019 PARTNERS: Catholic Relief Services (lead), TechnoServe, CLUSA-El Salvador, Cáritas FUNDING: $5.8M ($3M USAID; $1.7M Howard G. Buffet Foundation; $500,000 LWR; $655,802 Millennium Challenge Corporation)

Lutheran World Relief (LWR) uses an agricultural value chain approach to improve the livelihoods of millions of people across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. LWR has worked in Central America since 1972 to promote sustainable livelihoods for rural farmers. Since 2007, LWR’s regional profile has exceeded $10 million, including projects ranging from agricultural value chains to disaster risk reduction and climate resilient agriculture. Private and public sector investment in Salvadorian cacao has been largely absent because of the severely limited access to genetic material and production knowledge. Building back both the knowledge and the genetic material associated with this ancestral crop, in order to reactivate production at scale, will require a national level effort.

EXPECTED RESULTS • 13,500 full-time equivalent jobs

created over five years and increase producer incomes by 50% over baseline.

• Policy framework developed to provide incentives, specialized research and extension services for the development of a national cacao sector.

• 6,000 small- and medium-scale producers supported to establish and maintain productive and profitable cacao agroforestry systems.

• Restored biodiversity and increased resilience to climate change through producers’ improved farm management and use of natural resources.

• 6,000 hectares of cacao-based agroforestry farms established and maintained with improved water and soil practices.

• Strong producer organizational processes and linkages for engagement are created in the cacao value chain.

CREATING CACAO ALLIANCES • LWR facilitates policy making,

public-private dialogue, and promotes investment for cacao value chain development in El Salvador.

• LWR leads cacao transformation and processing with innovation and the establishment of 33 national quality and sustainability standards.

• High quality genetic material is sourced, produced and used by producer-owned nurseries and clonal gardens, including a public-private National Germplasm Bank.

• Agricultural training systems support participant smallholder cacao producers in applying improved farming techniques and managing diverse agroforestry systems.

• Small cacao and agroforestry businesses start the incorporation of women and children in hopes to improve producer organizational and entrepreneurial competencies in export-oriented value chain participation.

700 Light Street | Baltimore, MD 21230 USA 800.597.5972 | programs.lwr.org

Revised 07/2015

Cacao Alliance: Growing Strong with Local Economies and Resilient Communities