8 Briefing Paper, June 2012
the Central American diaspora in the United States is about
twice as large as the African diaspora.46 But USAID’s engagement with the U.S. Latin American diaspora may be
changing (see New Ideas below).
“No Country Likes to Lose Its People”
At a September 2011 event on migration and remittances
convened at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC,
Pablo Rodas, Chief Economist at the Central American
Bank for Economic Integration, said, “No country likes to
lose its people.”47 But Northern Triangle governments and
U.S development agencies could do more to help provide
alternatives to unauthorized migration and to reintegrate
returned migrants. “The assumption here is—and it’s probably the same in the other Triangle states—is that the country
needs this kind of [unauthorized] migration,” one analyst
Andrew Wainer
implement any program of this nature in Guatemala.”42
Seven years later, USAID-supported remittance projects
focusing on productive investment in the region are still rare.
Among U.S. development agencies, the Inter-American
Foundation (IAF)43 is in the vanguard when it comes to
recognizing the links between migration and development
in the Northern Triangle. The IAF is already working specifically on linking the diaspora to productive development
projects, and is planning to integrate migration into program evaluations in countries such as El Salvador. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which finished a
$205 million four-year compact in Honduras in 2010 and
is finishing its compact in El Salvador in 2012, also recognizes the link between migration and development, but it
has yet to integrate migration into compacts in the region.
“It wasn’t one of our specific purposes…but…we’d like to find
a way to establish a foundation for people to stay in their
homelands,” said MCC El Salvador deputy resident country
director Kenneth Miller. MCC El Salvador country representative Vincent Ruddy said that although remittances are
not an official part of the MCC compact in El Salvador, they
are a de facto part of the development landscape because
of MCC’s work with small- and medium-size farmers. “Our
compact…is already leveraging remittances,” Ruddy said.
“A good portion of those investments [by farmers they work
with] in [higher value crops or horticulture crops] are being
financed by remittances.”
USAID’s engagement with the migration/development
connection and the creation of alternative uses for remittances in Central America is limited. One USAID official
said, “At this point, our activities are ad hoc. Working with
diasporas is like climate change 15 years ago—consciousness needs to be built up.” USAID does, however, state the
importance of diasporas in development on its website:
“Although diaspora community engagement with home
countries is substantial, the developmental potential for this
group remains largely untapped. USAID recognizes that by
not engaging with this community, we are missing out on
an opportunity to increase our development impact significantly.”44 USAID has also hosted a series of diaspora conferences in the United States and shown increasing interest in
this component of development. But as yet, there has not
been a significant translation of research and dialogue with
diaspora communities into diaspora-focused productive development projects in Central America.
Most of USAID’s diaspora-focused economic development programs are part of its African Diaspora Marketplace
program. This initiative links U.S.-based African diaspora
entrepreneurs with businesses in Africa, with the goal of
generating economic growth and employment.45 USAID has
not taken this approach in Central America, even though
A woman feeds chickens as part of a diaspora investment project in Verapaz,
El Salvador. The project includes support from the Ford Foundation, the Los
Angeles, California Salvadoran diaspora, and local NGOs and government
agencies. The goal is to provide alternatives to unauthorized migration in
the climate vulnerable region.