Katy is part of a group of rural women from the department of El Paraíso, in eastern Honduras, who left the countryside, graduated from university, and returned to their first love, coffee growing. These women also began other productive activities such as beekeeping and growing bananas and lemons through the cooperative enterprise “Women in Action.”

The EU-funded project, which calls for an investment of around 16 million euros over a six-year period, will be implemented under an agreement that will also help Honduras meet its commitments under two international agreements with the European Union: the Forest Partnership and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement for Forest Governance.

Méndez is a member of the Lenca indigenous community and was raised in a family of 13 siblings. The family earned their living by cultivating basic grains and vegetables. From a tender age, Eodora realized that family farmers could only aspire to a better quality of life through unity, cooperation, training and the search for direct sales opportunities.

Laura Suazo, the first women to be in charge of Honduras’ agriculture and livestock portfolio, expressed this view during an interview with the program, AgroAmerica, which airs on Brazil’s TV Agro Mais.

The AGRO-INNOVA and PROCAGICA projects provide technical assistance and agricultural inputs to bolster food production based on good agricultural practices under agroforestry systems.

Coffee leaf rust ravaged his entire coffee plantation some years ago, but today he is making strides, with timely support from the European Union and IICA program.