El Salvador

A Craft Business Blooms

In early 2001, much of El Salvador was devastated by massive landslides. Thousands of already poor farming families in the highlands were left homeless and destitute. Ana Rosa Graf, an architect from San Salvador, joined the rebuilding efforts. But she soon realized that without sustainable livelihoods, people would still struggle…

Grounds for Success

When coffee prices tumbled to record lows earlier this decade, the livelihoods of thousands of Central American farmers were suddenly jeopardized. So TechnoServe identified a new opportunity for them: high-quality commercial and specialty coffees that could fetch premium prices in the changing market. With support from the Inter-American Development…

Helping Small Fruit Farmers Become Exporters in El Salvador

Just two years ago, Beto Gonzales was almost forced from his land in El Salvador. He and his fellow producers of jocote, a fruit native to Central America, had grown accustomed to receiving subsistence wages for the sale of their crops. Each year, the traditional methods Beto applied to grow…