Coffee farmers in the municipality of La Paz, Honduras, were able to reactivate and diversify their farms in response to the current crisis.
San Jose, La Paz, Honduras, 31 May 2021 (IICA). A number of Honduran coffee farmers have received technical assistance and inputs from the Central American Program for Integrated Coffee Leaf Rust Management (PROCAGICA). Since 2017, the program has worked in four municipalities in the department of La Paz that were affected by the plague.
One of them is Sonia Pérez, coffee grower and president of “El Pedernal” Multi-Service Company in the municipality of San Jose. She was trained by the program on how to manage the organization’s mission to purchase coffee, provide personal loans, and sell organic fertilizer to associates.
Pérez explains that she created the company based on the revolving fund that was established with the inputs provided by PROCAGICA. The fund was created once payment was made of 50% of the cost of the raw materials provided to the farmers.
“We started the company in 2018. We only had human resources and raised the financial resources as we worked and based on the availability of each associate. As a company, we have developed a number of activities and have received the financial, organizational, and practical support of PROCAGICA through training and technical aspects”, she said.
“El Pedernal” Multi-Service Company in the municipality of San Jose, La Paz, currently manages a portfolio of about 200,000 lempiras, which it distributes in loans for its associates and organic fertilizer and coffee purchases for subsequent sale, with the aim to obtain better prices and prevent intermediaries from taking advantage of unorganized producers.
Today, there are 37 associates, both male and female. The company was incorporated as a multi-service company because in addition to coffee, it also produces, buys, and sells organic fertilizer.
“The management training given to associates centered on how to maintain accounting ledgers, comply with municipal regulations in terms of taxes and operating permits, generate new business, implement projects, and manage personnel, among other topics”, explained Pérez.
“We believe this is what has elevated our business—our associates have been able to reinforce their lands. This year, many will be able to harvest and that keeps them motivated”, she added.
Additionally, with PROCAGICA, “we have received training on managing our coffee farms, preparing organic fertilizer, how to establish a coffee plantation, planting Musaceae, managing shade, and more”, she added.
Vision as entrepreneurs
Sonia Pérez describes their vision as a growing company with new projects and goals they have set.
“PROCAGICA has helped us move forward. We are renewing our associates’ plots, many of which were affected by coffee rust or damaged by hurricanes Eta and Iota, when they lost their leaves and suffered maturation problems. The pandemic has also delayed many activities we had pending. Everything has affected heavily”, tells the young entrepreneur.
She stated that PROCAGICA has been the driver of good results on their farms and in the coffee business. “The program has also supported us in sowing basic grains; they provided us with seed kits. While the program is coming to an end, it has left us—as an organization and a company—the basis to continue on our own; it has left us the seed to continue growing”, she said.
The company buys the coffee from its associates and hopes to purchase land to dedicate to coffee processing.
“We want to add value to the coffee; that is one of our objectives—to get it into the marketplace, to export. Our associates have contributed their ideas on how to improve every day”, assured Pérez.
Among their top achievements is coffee with an 87% cup quality. They believe that soon they will become high-quality coffee producers in the area, achieving better crops and, in turn, better prices for their associates.
PROCAGICA is sponsored by the European Union (EU) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in the municipalities of Marcala, Chinacla, Santa Maria, and San Jose in the department of La Paz, Honduras.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
