Local Exchange Circuits in Central America
In Central America most countries are poor to very poor. The income of a large majority of the population depends on agricultural activities as growing corn, beans and coffee.
The impact of the Free Trade Agreement with the US is expected to be a negative one, especially for groups involved in STROs projects: few small entrepreneurs will be equipped to take advantage of the new export opportunities, whilst large numbers will be negatively affected by cheap imports from the US. The diminished degree of protection of small entrepreneurs calls for alternative (non-tariff) mechanisms to move consumer purchasing power towards national producers.
Local Exchange Networks can help entrepreneurs to grow in a safe environment.
STRO is here actively involved in seven projects :
Centro Bartolome de las Casas
STROs local partner in El Salvador, Centro Bartolome de las Casas,
introduced a local currency to stimulate local production for the local
market in four very poor villages. Mixed loans in national and local
currency are given to start up small projects such as the production of
brooms, a sauna, a chicken farm, small restaurants, etc. More info
FUSAI: C3 business network in El Salvador
In El Salvador STRO wants to set up a C3 business network in which enterprise members can receive a credit line
and can buy products and services within the network. They pay off their
credit by selling their products and services to the other members.
Employees of the enterprises can receive salary advances to buy
products within the network; purchases are deducted from their next
salary.
FUSAI is one of the most renown NGOs in El Salvador and has the technical capacity , the reputation and the institutional network needed to set up such an business network. With guidance of STRO, FUSAI conducted a feasibility study, visited a business network in Brazil and elaborated a business plan.
COMAL
COMAL, STROs partner in Honduras, is a cooperative that buys
products from farmers and distributes them to over 400 small community
shops.
COMAL pays the farmers partly in local currency, called UDIS.
The farmers use the UDIS to buy products at the community shops and the
shops pay COMAL in UDIS for the products they supply. More info
Gota Verde
The objective of this three-year project is the promotion of small-scale
production and the use of biofuels for local consumption in marginal rural
areas of Honduras. More info...
Costa Rica: 3 projects in preparation
In Costa Rica STRO is preparing three projects all with cooperatives: Coopevictoria, Coopesilencio and a group of four cooperatives in the region Alfaro Ruiz.
Map of Central-America
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