• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • Focus on: Improving Nutrition

    Farmer-first supply chain connects seedlings to the supermarket shelf

    In El Salvador, Acceso agribusiness wants to free farmers from the volatility of informal markets — and help local businesses stock stores with domestically grown produce along the way.

    By Teresa Welsh // 01 April 2020
    Produce is packaged for commercial sale at Acceso’s collection facility. Photo by: Teresa Welsh / Devex

    CHALATENANGO, El Salvador — Hugo Balthazar Hernández began farming when he was 18 years old.

    He and his brother learned the trade from their father, and like many smallholders in El Salvador, they grew just a few crops on their small plots. Unpredictable pricing and flaky buyers at the local markets could see entire harvests go to waste.

    Read the full visual story

    Join Devex on the ground in El Salvador to see how Acceso supports smallholder farmers to create a more efficient supply chain.

    “In the past, the informal market didn’t allow us to be sustainable,” Hernández said.

    Hernández is now 24 and cultivating 15 different crops, the speed of business growth has been possible through his partnership with Acceso, an agribusiness that spun out of a Clinton Foundation initiative and is now funded by Canadian philanthropist Frank Giustra. It provides support to farmers from seedlings to the supermarket shelf.

    “We come at the producer with first and foremost market access,” said Rob Johnson, CEO at Acceso. “We basically say ... ‘we have to orient your production around what the market wants.’ So the quality, the size, all of those kinds of things. We say, ‘this is the consistency, the frequency of production [needed].’”

    Acceso’s services span the entire supply chain, rather than focusing solely on microcredit or technical assistance, so its agents are able to provide farmers a range of offerings — including inputs, credit, market linkages, and buying power.

    Join Devex on the ground in El Salvador and read the rest of the visual story here.

    This focus area, powered by DSM, is exploring innovative solutions to improve nutrition, tackle malnutrition, and influence policies and funding. Visit the Focus on: Improving Nutrition page for more.

    • Agriculture & Rural Development
    • Private Sector
    • El Salvador
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Teresa Welsh

      Teresa Welshtmawelsh

      Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.

    Search for articles

    Most Read

    • 1
      How low-emissions livestock are transforming dairy farming in Africa
    • 2
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 3
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 4
      The UN's changing of the guard
    • 5
      USAID's humanitarian bureau is under pressure and overstretched
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement