Current Statement
Food security is generally stable throughout the country. Households in Tecoluca, San Pedro and surrounding areas have completed the harvest from the out of cycle planting supported by the GoE to offset losses incurred by 12E damage. This harvest has helped to mitigate any potential market shortages of grain, especially red beans.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) will distribute an additional 325,000 agricultural input packages to subsistence farmers for the primera planting season as part of the national Agriculture Family Plan. Distributions began on April 18th in the western part of the country and will continue for up to three weeks in order to provide farmers with needed inputs, including white maize seeds and fertilizer, in time for planting. Farmers across the country are beginning land preparation activities for the primera season.
Unskilled labor is currently available at normal levels in LZ 3 in support of the sugarcane harvest, which is expected to end during April. On-farm casual labor related to primera planting is currently available at normal levels thought the country on medium to large scale farms.
According to the Climate Outlook Forum forecast, the la Niña climate phenomenon continued to weaken and is expected to transition to ENSO-neutral conditions during May -July, with a probability of changing to El Niño conditions after this period. These climate conditions are likely to affect crop production throughout the country during the primera and postrera season. El Salvador Met services estimate that the rainy season will start during the first week of May in the west and central regions and after the second week in the east, about 2 weeks earlier than normal.
According to MAG, supply and demand for white maize and beans has remained stable. However, recent reports indicate that the supply of domestic white maize has decreased, while supply of imported white maize (primarily from Honduras and Nicaragua) is increasing on the market, although consumers continue to demonstrate a preference for domestic white maize. Wholesalers claim that white maize farmers are currently hoarding their grain stocks and await better prices before selling. Most commercial beans on local markets are still imported from Honduras and Nicaragua.
In El Salvador, diesel and gasoline are preferred fuels, and diesel is most widely used by wholesale transporters. Diesel price have increased by as much as 4% from February 2012, 8.8% from the same month in 2011 and up to 34% from the last five year average prices. These increases will likely affect food retail prices directly in the upcoming weeks.
Households in El Salvador currently have food reserves and purchasing power resulting from from the out of cycle harvest and the availability of unskilled labor income from agro-industrial activities that allows for normal income earning levels for this time of year. However, families in the pacific coast will likely experience a slightly early lean season starting in May.