Cooperativism, Resilience and Markets: Promoting access to markets for resilient smallholder farmers

El Salvador is one of the countries most affected by climate change. It ranks 14th in the 2016 Global Climate Risk Index and 10th in the 2015 World Risk Report. The country has been hit by four subsequent droughts over the last four years. While the Government addresses the resulting food and nutrition insecurity with humanitarian funds and WFP support, these short term interventions cannot adequately tackle the structural problems that result in the population’s high vulnerability.

This DEV responds to the Government request to work with the communities on the structural causes of their vulnerability to climate change and to support the adjustment of rural livelihoods to enhance the resilience of the population. Guided by the corporate Resilience Policy, this DEV will function as a two-year bridge enabling WFP to implement resilience-building activities until the approval of the Country Strategic Plan, which will include resilience as one of its pillars.

The DEV addresses Strategic Objective 3 of WFP’s Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and is aligned to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 while also contributing to SDGs 1, 12 and 13. It supports communities in the eastern departments of the country, where severe droughts have led to high levels of food insecurity.

Through this DEV, WFP will introduce climate change adaptation practices, such as increased rainwater capture, use of efficient small-scale irrigation technology, soil conservation and the diversification of production systems. This will reduce smallholder producers’ dependence on the increasingly erratic rainfall and allow them a stable income even in times of moderate drought.

WFP will coordinate its activities with the central government, local authorities and civil society and align them with ongoing programmes. WFP will partner with the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to implement activities with a focus on agricultural

production, including training for women who participate in farmer field schools of the government’s Ciudad Mujer programme.

The global “Food for Assets Impact Evaluation” and the “Decentralized Operational Review on El Salvador Cash Based Transfers” informed the design of the DEV. WFP also builds on the experience and lessons learnt from the implementation of purchase-for-progress (P4P) activities and the subsequent trust fund 200815 (ProFarmers) to develop community stores for the marketing of smallholders’ produce.