ADVANCING HORTICULTURE ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRAINTS TO HORTICULTURAL SECTOR GROWTH IN CENTRAL AMERICA DECEMBER 20, 2013 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Horticulture at the University of California, Davis. Authors: Alonso González M., Tito Livio Zúniga, L. George Wilson Editors: Elizabeth Mitcham, Amanda Crump, Michael Reid, Britta Hansen, Brenda Dawson, Kelsey Barale ADVANCING HORTICULTURE: ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRAINTS TO HORTICULTURAL SECTOR GROWTH IN CENTRAL AMERICA December 2013 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Alonso González M.,Tito Livio Zúniga, and L. George Wilson With additional editing by Elizabeth Mitcham, Amanda Crump, Michael Reid, Britta Hansen, Brenda Dawson, and Kelsey Barale Cover image: Farmers’ fields in Almolonga, Guatemala. Photo credit: Kelsey Barale Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Horticulture* University of California, Davis *also called the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to USAID and USDA missions and staff who supported this study and provided valuable contacts and resources to conduct it, and to the Horticulture Innovation Lab support personnel at the University of California, Davis, for enabling us to concentrate on the assessment by taking care of the logistics for traveling within the visited countries, as well as preparing the workshops (consultation and dissemination). This study would not have been possible without the immense help of all people who shared their thoughts, documents and valuable time to respond to our queries, either through face to face interviews, participation in workshops and/or by responding to the online survey. We hope that this document will provide useful guidance to the development of the horticulture sector in Central America. By doing so, it is hoped that this assessment and its recommendations will fulfill the expectations of the Feed the Future initiative—being instrumental in solving poverty, malnutrition and livelihood issues affecting the rural communities in the region. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms............................................................................................................................ 6 Executive summary ........................................................................................................... 8 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Context .......................................................................................................................... 12 1.1.1 History, geography and markets .............................................................................................................. 12 1.1.2 Horticultural production and trade ........................................................................................................ 13 1.1.3 Recent evaluations and initiatives of the horticultural sector in Central America ...................... 15 1.2 Objectives............................................................................................................ 19 2. Methods ........................................................................................................................ 20 2.1 Interviews and Field Visits ............................................................................................ 20 2.2 Consultation and Dissemination Workshops ............................................................. 20 2.3 Survey ............................................................................................................................. 22 2.4 Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 23 3. Results ........................................................................................................................... 25 4. Major Findings and Constraints ................................................................................. 27 4.1 Biological ........................................................................................................................ 29 4.1.1 Pests and diseases ........................................................................................................................................ 29 4.1.2 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) ................................................................................................ 30 4.1.3 Genetic resources ....................................................................................................................................... 31 4.2 Natural resources .......................................................................................................... 31 4.2.1 Water ............................................................................................................................................................. 31 4.2.2 Climate ........................................................................................................................................................... 32 4.3 Socioeconomic .............................................................................................................. 32 4.3.1 Women in horticulture ............................................................................................................................. 33 4.3.2 Indigenous peoples in horticulture ......................................................................................................... 33 4.3.3 Economic issues ........................................................................................................................................... 33 4.4 Engineering and technology ......................................................................................... 36 4.4.1 Production technology and supplies ....................................................................................................... 36 4.4.2 Processing of horticultural products ....................................................................................................... 36 4.5 Research, education and training ................................................................................ 37 4.5.1 Education and training needs .................................................................................................................... 37 4.5.2 Research capacity of universities and research institutes .................................................................. 38 4.5.3 Extension capacity ....................................................................................................................................... 40 5. Proposed Solutions and Recommendations ............................................................. 42 5.1 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 42 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 52 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 56 Appendix A: List of people interviewed and their corresponding organization, by country ................................................................................................................................. 56 Appendix B: List of all issues mentioned during the in person interviews and consultation workshops ...................................................................................................... 61 Appendix C: Questions used in web survey ...................................................................... 73 Appendix D: Analysis of web survey .................................................................................. 79 Appendix E: Survey responses ........................................................................................... 81 Appendix F: Crop-specific research needs as identified by AGExport, Guatemala ... 104 Appendix G: Key research and education programs in the region .............................. 107 ACRONYMS BID Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo CATIE Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CRSP a Collaborative Research Support Program (also known as a Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research) CURLA Centro Universitario Regional del Litoral Atlántico DICTA Dirección de Ciencia y Tecnología FAUSAC Facultad de Agricultura de la Universidad de San Carlos FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration FHIA Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola FHI 360 organization created in merger between Family Health International and Academy of Education Development FSMA Food Safety Modernization Act GDP gross domestic product HLB Huanglongbing ICTA Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícola IICA Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPM integrated pest management LAC Latin America