CENTRAL AMERICA, 10 JUNE 2022 – Within the framework of its project “Promotion of regional coordination in aquaculture value chains for the generation of productive employment in Latin America and the Caribbean”, which is funded by the Trust Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO), trained and certified 17 trainers to support the formalization of freshwater fish farmers in El Salvador and Honduras.

The training was based on ILO’s Think.Coop and Start.Coop methodologies, which are low-cost, easy to use tools for those interested in establishing or joining a cooperative; it further conveyed UNIDO's long-standing experience in value chain development and technical expertise in job creation, especially for vulnerable groups including youth and women. It is expected that the onward transmission of knowledge between the newly trained specialists and producers in the aquaculture value chain will allow them to strengthen their position while ensuring the sustainability and replication of their activities in the wider Latin America and the Caribbean region. In addition, follow-up plans are being established to support both short and long-term development as well as the implementation of regional roadmaps and investment plans aimed at improving productivity and generating employment.

The ‘Train the Trainers’ programme included six virtual sessions from 1 April to 6 May as well as in-person trainings from 1 to 4 June and 6 to 9 June 2022 in El Salvador and Honduras, respectively, for 10 senior officials from El Salvador and 7 service providers from Honduras, who were selected in coordination with the UNIDO’s Focal Points from the Ministries of Economy (MINEC) and Agriculture and Livestock Ministries of El Salvador (MAG), and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras (SAG). In El Salvador, the sessions specifically targeted aquaculture business centres and production sites in the Lago de Guija, Atiocoyo and Ilopango areas whereas the sessions in Honduras focused on production areas in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and Trujillo.

Initiated in May 2020 to support the recovery of participating countries from the COVID-19 pandemic, the project has already established a regional aquaculture network and supported the analysis of the national freshwater aquaculture value chains as well as the development of national aquaculture strategic plans and roadmaps that identified the formalization of small producers as one of the major value chain bottlenecks.

For more Information, please contact:

Barbara Boreta

b.boreta@unido.org