El SalvadorWhile El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, has the region's third largest economy, poverty rates linger above 30 percent.
The country is seeking to create more jobs and income opportunities by supporting the creation and growth of small businesses and by boosting agricultural exports. For more than three decades, TechnoServe has worked to empower El Salvador’s entrepreneurs to create thriving businesses in addition to helping farmers in key sectors to connect to high-demand markets, both local and foreign.
Producing Better Coffee Harvests in El Salvador and Nicaragua
The Better Coffee Harvest project gave farmers the skills they needed to transform their coffee farms into profitable businesses by training them on yield-enhancing, climate-smart agricultural practices that would boost their resilience to crop diseases. This project was funded by the J.M. Smucker Company, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the PIMCO Foundation.
The MOCCA Program is a five-year initiative, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress Program, aimed at helping more than 100,000 farmers to overcome the barriers limiting their capacity to effectively rehabilitate and renovate their coffee and cacao plants.
The Better Coffee Harvest (Cosechemos Mas Cafe) project is a four-year initiative funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the J.M. Smucker Company and the PIMCO Foundation to reduce poverty and increase farm sales for coffee farmers in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
TechnoServe helped coffee producer groups become more profitable by growing and selling lucrative specialty coffee. Using tools such as traceability software and quality management systems, TechnoServe business advisors trained the producers in industry best practices.
TechnoServe partnered with the Millennium Challenge Corporation to reduce poverty and boost economic development in northern El Salvador by strengthening the dairy value chain.
Crece tu Empresa (CRECE) is an ongoing program since 2015 in Central America with the support of the Citi Foundation. The objective of the program is to support young entrepreneurs to promote the sustainable growth of their businesses, by helping them develop their skills and business competencies.
Impulsa Tu Empresa aims to help small and growing businesses boost their growth through mentoring and business training. Since its launch in 2012, the program has increased the sales of over 1,500 businesses and helped create 1,600 new jobs in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Burkina Faso.
Youth face unique challenges in obtaining formal employment or becoming successful entrepreneurs. Crece Tu Empresa, TechnoServe's program in partnership with Citi Foundation, is working to address the challenge of youth unemployment in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Panama.
Read the 2021 TechnoServe Annual Report in English, French, or Spanish in the PDFs on this page. You can find Portuguese here.
Lessons learned from TechnoServe’s work with SGBs in Central America, based on research conducted by Emory University and the Impulsa Tu Empresa program.
Impulsa Tu Empresa…
In 2017, TechnoServe engaged ImpactMatters, an impact audit firm founded with support from Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), to review several projects within our portfolio. This impact audit reviews the Impulsa Tu Empresa program implemented in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua from 2013 to 2017.
