US leans on El Salvador to open up seed market

Farmers in El Salvador are protesting against a multimillion-dollar grant from a US aid agency that would force the country to open its seed market to international companies.

Last month, farmers protested outside the US embassy in the capital, San Salvador, amid concerns about conditions attached to a grant from the Millennium Corporation Challenge.

El Salvador has been awarded a $277 million grant to improve its "competitiveness and productivity in international markets" on condition that the country opens its markets to competition, which would undermine the current system.

Source: The Guardian