Agriculture

Introduction
Over the years we have done many agricultural interventions. Presently, we are working on Farm to Table coffee sales and expanding cash crops.

Farm to Table Coffee Sales
An initial farmer approached us about methods to improve their agricultural operation. Maria Gloria Gutierrez and her son Arnold live in Rancho Quemado where they grow coffee, fruit trees, and various vegetables. They are one of the larger and more successful farms in the San Jose area. Most farmers in the area sell coffee to international coffee buyers for about $2-$2.50 per pound depending on international coffee prices. Around 2018 we proposed taking some of their green coffee back to the US where we would have the coffee roasted and sold in the Rochester, NY area. Instead of getting under $3/pound for their coffee, this approach returns over $10 per pound to the farmer actually doing the majority of the work. This additional revenue allows Gloria to pay more to the local laborers they use to help on the farm. The extra cash enables Gloria to expand their farm in other directions as well.

In November 2021 we started working with another farmer, Margarito Sanchez, from San Marcos. He is 4.5 years into building his organic coffee farm. The coffee from both farmers is delicious and much higher quality than most of us have access to from our grocery store. Our hope is over time to expand the number of farms we work with and the amount of coffee transported to the US for sales. Everyone benefits. The farmers have more resources to expand and improve their business. Supporters in the US get high quality coffee and the knowledge they are helping improve the lives of many people in rural Honduras.

Expand Cash Crops and Product Variety
We have introduced many thousands of heirloom seeds into the San Jose area. One of the benefits of heirloom seeds, as opposed to hybrid seeds, is that heirloom seeds can be harvested from the fruit and used to grow next year’s crop. Although farmers have grown over 20 different vegetable types from heirloom seeds, the most likely candidate for a cash crop is the Scorpion pepper. Hondurans love spicy foods. The Scorpion pepper is the third hottest pepper in the world and definitely hotter than the peppers available locally. Gloria Gutierrez described the hotness as “Delicious!”. She and her son Arnold are beginning to grow the pepper for cash. Recently the peppers were sold in the Esperanza market for more than double what local peppers cost. These specialty peppers can be difficult to grow and local pests can decimate the plants. Gloria has done a great job getting the peppers to grow and keep the insects at bay. In the Fall of 2021 we introduced the Carolina pepper, billed as the hottest pepper in the world, and horseradish. We want to expand cash crops that are not grown by other farmers and have a good return on investment.

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