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Rural Development

Studies conducted by CLACDS and other entities demonstrates that Central American agriculture is approaching a profound, economic and environmental crisis, with grave implications, given that half of the region's population lives in the country and dedicates itself to agricultural activities. The majority live in conditions of extreme poverty, without real options for improvement and with a clear tendency towards even greater poverty in the future is something is not done. In the medium and long term, this generates an unprecedented social problem that must be dealt with as soon as possible.

CLACDS seeks to promote an integral strategy for rural development for the region, incorporating both agricultural and non-agricultural solutions. Modern and successful agriculture will require a smaller percentage of the economically active population in the countryside, but will offer greater opportunities for improving the standards of living of people somehow involved in agriculture, whether it be on the farms or off of them. Other options must be developed to permit the re-training and re-location of the rural population that cannot be absorbed into agriculture into other productive activities, thus avoiding massive and disorderly migrations or greater social problems.

The Center has initiated a process of research and discussion about the internal and external causes of the rural and agricultural crisis in Central America, with the participation of regional technical and academic institutions, governments and private sector unions. The objective is to promote the development of policies and programs focused on the transformation of economies in rural areas into competitive and sustainable economies.

For various years CLACDS has worked to promote sustainable tourism as an alternative to create greater levels of employment and income in rural areas. In 2002, the Sustainable Markets Intelligence Center (CIMS), was created to assist producers and exporters in the commercialization of products such as organic fruits and vegetables, certified coffee and wood and a selection of other differentiated products from the point of view of their environmental or social attributes.

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