CATIE strengthens strategic alliances in El Salvador to promote sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, and human talent development

• An institutional mission consolidated cooperation with ministries, research centers, and regional partners to promote resilient production systems, landscape restoration, and capacity development in El Salvador.

From February 1 to 6, 2026, CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), led by its Director General, Dr. Luis Pocasangre, carried out an institutional mission to El Salvador with the objective of strengthening strategic alliances and exploring new opportunities for cooperation in research, territorial development, and human talent development, with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, and the management of productive landscapes.

During the visit, the Director General held meetings with government authorities, research institutions, cooperation agencies, and territorial stakeholders, which made it possible to identify joint lines of work in strategic sectors such as cacao, coffee, sustainable livestock, agroforestry, and ecosystem restoration, as well as in the integrated management of watersheds.

One of the central pillars of the mission was the dialogue with the honorable María Navarrete, Minister of Local Development, who is promoting a national agenda aimed at strengthening the cacao value chain for the benefit of rural communities in the departments of Chalatenango, Morazán, and San Miguel.

The agenda also included meetings with authorities from the Ministry of Environment: Carlos Schonenberg and Jessica Laguardia, where potential joint actions were addressed in climate change adaptation, landscape restoration, and the development of regional projects financed by multilateral mechanisms in the Dry Corridor of El Salvador.

An important meeting was held with Dr. Odette Varela, Director of the National Center for Agricultural and Livestock Technology (CENTA) and the National School of Agriculture (ENA), with whom efforts were made to promote the training of Salvadoran professionals and researchers through CATIE’s graduate programs. This collaboration aims to contribute to the development of human talent and the strengthening of national technical capacities in the medium and long term.

The mission included joint field visits with M.Sc. Jorge Oviedo, Executive Director of the Environmental Investment Fund of El Salvador (FIAES) and a CATIE graduate, where agroforestry projects for staple grains and silvopastoral systems adapted to the Dry Corridor are being implemented in Ahuachapán.

It is worth highlighting that CATIE’s technical team is based in La Hachadura, Ahuachapán, to support producers in the area. Likewise, a women’s association leading a biofactory for the production of bio-inputs in Metapán was visited; they are beneficiaries of the ESCALAR project, financed by Swedish Cooperation.

Another strategic meeting was held with the representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in El Salvador, Eng. Erick Quiros, with whom the complementarity of IICA’s work with CATIE was discussed, as well as the potential for projects in sustainable livestock, coffee, and cacao, in addition to capacity development in El Salvador’s agricultural sector. Furthermore, the importance of supporting the Trifinio Plan for the benefit of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras was discussed.

In addition, Dr. Pocasangre also met with Mr. Jorge Urbina, Executive Secretary of the Trifinio Plan, who is highly interested in working jointly with IICA and CATIE.

The mission to El Salvador reaffirms CATIE’s role as a key technical-scientific partner for the sustainable development of the region, articulating science, international cooperation, and territorial action to build more resilient, inclusive, and climate-adapted production systems.