Thursday, 02 September 2021 13:06

MAG seeks US$650 and US$640 million in financing to invest in agriculture and coffee sector

Written by Evelyn Alas

The minister of Agriculture and Livestock, David Martinez, informed in an interview about the investment planned by MAG for the agricultural and coffee sector.

Minister Martinez said that, "in May two trusts were presented, one of them was for food sovereignty and the other was for the coffee sector, during the Agricultural Rescue plan that the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG) is managing, which have the purpose of guaranteeing food security through an efficient, climate resilient and low carbon agriculture, with financial leverage for national producers through a trust, and the establishment of productive infrastructure.

With which they will seek 100% financing of the two trusts, one is for US$640 million and the other for US$650 million, this potential investment could support both sectors for the next 20 years.

The minister said: "the two trusts have different complexities, for the agricultural sector they are US$650 million invested in people who have not had a credit, the coffee sector will have US$640 million, of which US$250 million are for the reengineering of the state debt".

Also, he said that importing 80% of what is consumed has disadvantages.

"It is not the same to look for funds for the social sector than for the agricultural sector, unfortunately, it is much more complicated...The banks put completely different conditions for the agricultural sector than for any other sector, it should not be", said the Minister of MAG, David Martinez.

In the case of food security and sovereignty, it will be a little simpler, because in the ministry there is no situation of indebtedness, it is only investment.

The minister also added that El Salvador is the only country that does not have a coffee institute, compared to other Central American countries.