Coffee Farms in Honduras

Last January, my boyfriend and I visited Honduras. Since my boyfriend works in the coffee industry, the purpose of our trip was twofold: to visit a few coffee farms and vacation on the beach. While we simply chose Honduras because it had both of these things, it turned out our timing was pretty good. Honduras is extremely dedicated to developing its coffee industry right now: at the US’s largest coffee convention recently held in Portland (where else?), Honduras was not only the featured country, but both the President and Vice President of Honduras were in attendance.

After spending a night in San Pedro Sula, the two of us were picked up by Omar Rodriguez, the manager of Capucas Coffee, a coffee cooperative of roughly 100 members, located in western Honduras. Over the course of two days, Omar introduced us to a handful of farmers, most of whom were masters of sustainability. Their practices were partly out of necessity (in a place where families burn fires in the kitchen to cook, it makes a lot of sense to turn your coffee pulp into methane that you can pump back into your house as gas for your stove), partly out of tradition, and partly out a desire to stay competitive in the specialty coffee market, which rewards, through a gazillion different certifications, sustainable products. As a result, we got to see firsthand how Honduras is using sound environmental practices and uniting small farmers to improve their communities and maintain their position in the specialty coffee market.

Here are a few photos of the places we saw, the people we met and what they taught us.

The Capucas coffeelands

Coffee plants grown under a canopy that provides habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Pancho showed us around his farm, Platanares, that met just about all the certifications for sustainable practices.

They were in the process of harvesting the coffee cherries.

During the harvest, the whole family helps, and Pancho's daughters were no exception. Getting kids out of the fields and into the schools is one of the goals of the cooperative. When we visited, school wasn't in session, and lots of kids were working.

This sign lists the labor practices of the farms that participate in the cooperative. Some of these include:

• We pay minimum wage.
• We don't allow kids to work when school is in session.
• We don't discriminate based on race, sex, religion, age or political party.
• We protect the ground, water and air.
• Be nice and don't fight.

This machine was used to separate the beans from the cherries. Usually water is needed to complete this process, but Pancho's machine was dry-process, saving on water use.

Raised beds were used to dry the beans slowly, using only the sun.

Another farmer, Isidrio (below left), used a combination of old and new methods to dry his beans. Many coffee farmers lay their beans out in on the ground, uncovered, which dries the beans quickly but leaves the harvest vulnerable to rain, dirt and other factors. Drying beans faster also affects taste. Isidrio used a special patio that only he was allowed to access (to keep out dirt), along with raised beds inside a large sheltered dryer, which gave him more control over the temperature. 

Another farmer, Bernardo, captured the methane from the rotting coffee pulp and water mixture that results from wet-process de-pulping, and otherwise goes to waste. He was able to use this gas for cooking.

Omar also showed us some of the projects that were funded by the money collected from Fair Trade certification. Below is a virtual library (virtual, until they get more books), and a soccer field that would make anyone want to kick a ball around.

Coffee harvesters carpooling.

The beans we saw harvested in January will be available to try here in the U.S. through Weaver's Coffee and Tea, in San Rafael, CA. They will be roasting a small batch available by special order only, sometime mid-June. If you send them an email, they'll keep you in the loop!