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ITS FACE There are currently 23,000 coffee growers in El Salvador and close to 90% of them have farms smaller than 17 hectares. The area cultivated by the small and mid-size farmer’s supplies 80% of our total production. Additionally, 15,000 small farmers have organized themselves into 119 cooperatives in the reformed sector, providing economic and social support to the families that comform them. We also have around 3,000 producers, gathered in traditional cooperatives, which generate around 30% of the total production. There are more than 70 millers/exporters; meanwhile, close to 40 roasters take care of domestic consumption, which is approximately 150,000 bags; most of these are small and mid-sized coffee roasters. The coffee sector is grouped in four guild associations: the “Asociación Cafetalera de El Salvador” (Coffee Growers Association of El Salvador), the “Unión de Cooperativas de Cafetaleros de El Salvador” (the Union of Coffee Growers Cooperatives of El Salvador), the “Asociación de Cooperativas de la Reforma Agraria Productoras, Beneficiadoras y Exportadoras de Café” (the Land Reform Coffee Producing, Milling and Exporting Cooperatives), and the “Asociación Salvadoreña de Beneficiadores y Exportadores de Café” (Salvadoran Association of Coffee Millers and Exporters). |
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These 4 institutions, jointly with the public sector, form the official permanent discussion forum for the sector, known as the “Consejo Salvadoreño del Café” (Salvadoran Coffee Council). This institutional arrangement makes it possible for the coffee sector to be part of international efforts geared at decidedly and globally facing the coffee crisis. El Salvador believes that international cooperation should favour the development of a sustained coffee growing industry under more equitable conditions. Completing this institutional fabric, the Procafé Foundation is the institution in charge of carrying out scientific studies and technological transfer. For this, it has a wealth of academic knowledge, research and experiences that go back more than 40 years. Both the Salvadoran Coffee Council and Procafé are institutions financed by coffee growers, to serve the coffee producers. |