The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of El Salvador, David Martínez, in the company of the Presidential Commissioner for Operations and Government Cabinet, Carolina Recinos, and the director of the Salvadoran Coffee Council, Lily Pacas, made a field trip to the Norwegian Farm , located in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Coffee Region, where the first School of Administrators of Café RENACER is installed.

During the tour, presentations were made on the history and development of RENACER; Likewise, a tour was made of the farm and the School to see the facilities of the Laboratory for Quality Control and Coffee Cupping, the Garden of Coffee Varieties, the Renovation Model Plot, the Verification Model Plot, among other areas. .

“As director of the Council, I am interested in the minister knowing about this important successful program, which could be replicated for the benefit of the producers. Few programs like this take and accompany the producer to the point of commercialization ”, explained the official.

According to the director of the Council, it is expected to strengthen training in the coffee sector, therefore, their purpose is to strengthen the School of Coffee of El Salvador, with the support of Minister Martínez. "For us it is important to achieve the development of the coffee sector due to its environmental, economic and social benefits for the country," said Pacas.

During this visit, Commissioner Carolina Recinos, Minister David Martínez, and Director Lily Pacas delivered a donation of fungicides for producers in the area. In this framework, Minister Martínez reported that on Monday, April 12, through the Salvadoran Coffee Council, the delivery of fungicides and foliar agents for coffee growers nationwide will begin.

“As a coffee sector we want to thank the president, Nayib Bukele, for this donation that they have come to give us; we want this help to continue, because we do need this product to fight disease. The producers are going to thank them, but more so to our peasants, who are the ones who need it the most, ”said Francisco Laguán, a producer from Concepción de Ataco. Being here is important, our minister will have to move this forward; we are going to rescue coffee and in a comprehensive way. For the first time, we are handing them leaflets, for us this is a gesture that starts a production chain. This idea of ​​improving crops is important and I bring the commitment to work seriously. We are going to make coffee the golden bean again, ”said Commissioner Recinos.

“For the president, coffee is extremely important and agriculture is paramount. We come on his behalf to give important announcements that will definitively solve the great problems of coffee growing. The Agricultural Rescue Master Plan that I am leading from the Ministry includes 637 million dollars for the coffee sector, we have built it to reactivate 50 thousand blocks and includes the issue of debt; But above all, in order to make the chain transparent and that the producer is paid fairly, we do not want crumbs to fall on the producer. That is the priority of the president: the producer has to have a fair payment, "said Minister David Martínez with impetus. Minister Martínez revealed that in the coming weeks, with the support of the new Assembly, the MAG will be able to inject 45 million euros. dollars in the coffee sector, from a loan granted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); one of the destinations of these funds will be the creation of the Salvadoran Coffee Institute.

The official specified that those 45 million dollars will allow a counterpart to get another 50 million dollars for green funds, which will be managed to have them at the end of the year.

Also, within these important announcements for the coffee sector, the minister reported that the launch of the National Coffee Policy is projected for the month of May; This instrument will become the shield for the coffee sector and the guide to achieve the definitive reactivation of coffee growing.

It is important to mention that Minister David Martínez will seek to expand all the benefits and support for the coffee sector, since one of the great bets of the Master Plan for Agricultural Rescue is Salvadoran coffee growing.

The RENACER Coffee Administrators School was created in January 2019 as part of the actions promoted by RAÍCES AHUACHAPÁN, with the aim of training the human capital that contributes to the restoration of the agricultural landscape of the departments of Ahuachapán, Sonsonate and Santa Ana.

The objective of the training course for coffee farm managers is to develop basic competencies on the management of a coffee farm; management through the implementation of ASA (Agriculture, Soil and Water) practices; selective collection and quality control, which allows the producer to improve the quality of his coffee and access differentiated markets, thus improving his income and that of his workers.

The course is aimed at producers, farm managers, community promoters, agricultural technicians, students and other actors in the coffee value chain. Participants can access half scholarships and full scholarships, according to the socioeconomic study carried out by the School.