Abstract

CUMMINGS, Andrew Robert. Building innovation capabilities in small-scale  rural agro-industries of El Salvador. Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2013, vol.8, n.24, pp.295-319. ISSN 1850-0013.

This article analyzes the building of innovation capabilities in small scale family-owned businesses involved in the processing and commercialization of panela -a traditional type of raw, non-refined sugar- in the Central-American context of El Salvador. Although this analysis is focused on one particular associative initiative, ACOPANELA, an entrepreneurship that integrates multiple small trapiches -family-owned businesses-, this article postulates the building of innovation capabilities, in the context of the panela subsector, as one of the small scale agro-industries with a longstanding tradition in El Salvador. The results of this analysis are used to draw lessons as to how innovation capabilities emerge and are developed in this type of associative economic initiatives. Proposals are also presented for strengthening the territorial reach of public and private programs to promote innovation in small scale rural agro-industries and other types of rural SMEs, under the logic of constructing territorial systems of innovation.

Keywords : Innovation; Innovation capabilities; Territorial systems of innovation; Territorial economic development; Small scale rural agroindustry; Panela; El Salvador.