During the early 1990’s, the Salvadoran economy began to recover after twelve years of civil war. More than half the country’s rural population lived in poverty - an estimated two million people. Farmers had few opportunities to increase their income and lacked access to credit, while the government was slow to stimulate investment in rural areas. This limited the growth of agricultural exports.

The activity helped thirty-eight cooperatives and farmer associations improve their ability to deliver useful services to their members, and increase the production and sale of their crops through managerial, technological, and marketing assistance.

To expand farmers’ access to financial services, the activity worked with credit unions providing saving and lending services. The project team identified weaknesses that severely hampered the unions’ microcredit operations and introduced new types of savings accounts while training staff on modern credit, finance, and accounting techniques.