Shade-grown coffee represents more than 66% of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Biosphere Reserve in El Salvador, which interconnects and enables the flow of flora and fauna species. However, this crop faces two major threats: the first is the elimination of coffee plantations due to land use changes for urbanization, and the second is the replacement of coffee plantations with basic grains and vegetable crops.

In this regard, the Green Development Fund project in the SICA region of El Salvador called “Leveraging farms with agroecological management of the coffee agroecosystem in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Biosphere Reserve” worked with 50 producers to restore ecosystems and landscapes through agroecological and diversified coffee production. This allowed them to improve their income thanks to new products and the added value provided by agroecological coffee management, strengthening the marketing chain of products associated with the crop.