- MOCCA and the Ministry of Agriculture signed an agreement to develop a strategy with a short and long term financial focus for coffee farmers.
Among other projects, the joint search for financial solutions for coffee farmers, improvements to the training mechanism for farmers; development of standards, requirements and/or certification systems for coffee nurseries; as well as a feasibility study for the establishment and operation of a new coffee institute, are part of the mutual collaboration interests between the MOCCA Program and the Ministry of Agriculture of El Salvador, that signed a collaboration agreement on June 22nd.
El Salvador, whose government launched a Plan for the Transformation and a Sustainable Coffee Takeoff requires an investment of $627 million USD to make it effective according to data from the MAG. It is here where the leader of the coffee component of the MOCCA program, TechnoServe, together with the Initiative for Smallholders Finance, will support the Salvadoran government in the construction of a strategy for financing solutions that will allow the promotion of loans to the coffee sector oriented towards: coffee farm renovation and rehabilitation activities; and the refinancing of the coffee debt.
To date, MOCCA, an initiative financed by the United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, established partnerships with more than 40 organizations including international buyers, exporters, processors, producer organizations, financial entities, and institutions that represent the coffee and cacao sectors, to train more than 75 thousand farmers in 5 countries.
“In El Salvador, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Banco de Fomento Agropecuario and the Salvadoran Coffee Council, we will work to support more than 2,400 coffee farmers, grouped in coffee cooperatives and individual farmers in the main coffee production regions of the country, so that they may receive financing under better conditions,” said Ryan Bathrick, MOCCA Program Director.
Additionally, MOCCA promotes the inclusion of women by working with the Alliance of Women in Coffee in El Salvador (AMCES), with a training program for its members and women’s groups in four coffee growing regions of the country.
About TechnoServe: In 2020 TechnoServe received the “Coffee Support Organization of the Year” award from the National Coffee Association of the United States (NCA). TechnoServe operates in 29 countries, linking people to information, capital and markets and has helped millions of people create lasting prosperity for their families and communities. TechnoServe is the MOCCA Consortium Leader and drives the coffee program.
About Initiative for Smallholders Finance: ISF is committed to transforming rural economies by creating partnerships and investment structures that promote financial inclusion for rural businesses and smallholder farmers. ISF leads MOCCA’s efforts in the design and implementation of long-term, sustainable financing mechanisms that support the rehabilitation and renovation of smallholder coffee and cacao farms in target countries.
About USDA: MOCCA is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture through its Food for Progress Program, which seeks to improve agricultural productivity and expand trade in agricultural products.
