2.2.2.- El Salvador

With a share of only 2% in Central America’s total export of fruits, vegetables and ornamentals in 2006, El Salvador is the smallest producer and exporter regarding these sectors in Central America. In contrary, it is Central America’s main importer of products from these sectors. Large part of the vegetables and fruits that are exported are in preserved or prepared form.
The earthquakes of early 2001 devastated both domestic and export agriculture. In the west of the country, agriculture was hit by the combined damage caused by the Ilamatepec volcano eruption in October 2005, followed by Tropical Storm Stan just a week later.
Although El Salvador’s agriculture registered low growth in the past years, it remains important in terms of employment and value added. The sector still employs nearly one-quarter of the labour force, provides one-third of export earnings and meets around 70% of domestic food needs.  El Salvador’s main export crops remain to be coffee and sugar. As cheaper imports contribute to a lack of interest in investment in the sector, government policy has focused increasingly on urban issues as extensive agriculture is playing a smaller role in the country’s economy. Nevertheless, recent policies are focusing more on rural development by stimulating agriculture. One reason for this policy is to maintain stability in the country on an economic and on a social level, another reason is to reduce migration to urban areas. Focus within such policies goes out to non-traditional crops.

2.2.2.1.- Production

Area of production
In table 2.10 the area harvested for the major agricultural products is given, according to the data available. In general, in comparison with the other Central American countries, El Salvador is of minor importance for the production fruits, vegetables and ornamentals. The main agricultural crop according to harvested area is banana with an area of 8800 ha. The area has increased with about 10% in the period from 2002 to 2005.

Production quantity
Table 2.11 shows the production quantity for the major agricultural products on the next page.

2.2.2.2.- Trade

Export
Table 2.12 shows the export value (US$) of the major agricultural products for the sectors covered by this study. The export of agricultural products from El Salvador is low. The export of ornamentals, vegetables and fruits accounts for just 2% of the total yearly export value of El Salvador. The table shows that no exports of bananas are registered, so production is likely to be for the local market only. The same can be said for fruits like water melon and papaya and vegetables like tomato and cucumber.

In 2006, the export value of ornamentals was almost US$ 3.2 million. Live ornamental plants (including cuttings) had a share of 65% in the total export value of ornamentals in 2006. Foliage had a share of 30% in 2006 and the export value of this product shows a small decrease since 2002.
Vegetable export has grown with 45% since 2002. The total export value in 2006 was US$ 10.5 million, from which 40% preserved and frozen vegetables and 50% dried kidney and white pea beans. The export of fresh vegetables is insignificant and basically limited to the export of peppers.
Regarding the fruit export, quite a big share of the export value concerns (processed) fruits and nuts (cooked or uncooked, frozen with or without added sugar). Fresh fruits are not exported much. With a value of US$ 31.7 million, corresponding to 66% of the total export value of fruit, vegetables and ornamentals, most of the vegetables and fruits are exported in preserved or prepared form.

Export trade partners
Ornamentals from El Salvador are mainly exported to the Netherlands. Most of these exports are (young plants of) ornamental plants. As for vegetables and fruits, the United States is by far the main importer. Guatemala imports the larger part of preserved and prepared fruits and vegetables from El Salvador.

Export to the Netherlands
The main agricultural exports of El Salvador to the Netherlands consist of ornamentals (only live ornamental plants and foliage, no cut flowers) and amounted US$ 2.8 million in 2006.

Import
In table 2.15 the import value (US$) of the major agricultural products are given for the sectors covered by this study.

As El Salvador does not produce much itself, it imports quite a large amount of vegetables. In 2006, for 66 million US dollars was imported. About 30% of the value was dried kidney or white pea beans and 20% tomatoes.
The import of fruits amounted to 48 million US dollars in 2006, from which one fifth bananas and one fifth apples and about 15% grapes.

2.2.2.3.- Agricultural supplies and services

Supply materials for the horticultural sector in El Salvador are hard to become due to the fact that the home market is very small. There are some suppliers of materials which are exporting or planning to start exporting. Motivation is high amongst these companies and collaboration with Dutch suppliers is desired.