Honduran Cacao Farmers Build a Future

Neydi Guzmán grew up in the mountains of northeastern Honduras, where she still lives with her family. Despite living in one of the world’s poorest countries, her family works hard to make a living, educate their children and continue their way of life in Olancho, the largest department in the country.

Honduras is a challenging place to live. The country has a history of crime, corruption and political upheaval that prevents many families like the Guzmáns from living peacefully in their ancestral homes. As a result of its history, the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic effects of Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota, nearly half of all Hondurans live below the poverty line, according to a study conducted by the World Bank.

Food insecurity has been persistently high in the last few years. The same World Bank study found that in 2019 the most vulnerable Hondurans spent almost half of their income on food.

The Guzmáns are working together to make a difference for their own family and for their community. Thanks to your support, they have been able to increase the impact of their efforts. Neydi’s determination means that her family has access to programs and support they would not have otherwise.

A naturally shy but bright student, Neydi studied agriculture and livestock management after finishing high school and spent two more years studying organic agriculture. During that time, she worked for a nonprofit organization that encouraged cacao production as an alternative to coffee.

Thanks to Neydi’s experience promoting cacao at her previous job, the Guzmáns were one of the first 1,000 families in the region to grow more cacao as part of the Chocolate4All project. Neydi’s brother, Esmelin, was also trained by the project and plays an important role on the family’s farm.

Because of their hard work and community spirit, the Guzmáns were selected to run a nursery in the community of Nueva Esperanza in Dulce Nombre de Culmí municipality in the Olancho department.

Thanks to the generous support of Friends of Heifer® and other partners, Heifer provided 40,000 plants sourced from eight new varieties of cacao plants that are healthier and easier to grow to start the nursery.

As part of the project, 22 families received 600 cacao plants each, along with training on plant health and management, including lessons on grafting which can help older disease-prone plants continue producing fruit. This enables cacao farmers to continue to earn an income while the younger trees are still maturing.

“That was the opportunity. Intelligent farmers took advantage of Heifer knowledge,” Neydi’s father José, the patriarch of the Guzmán clan, said.

“We see many producers benefited because they did not have to buy grafted plants,” he said. 

In addition to supplying new varieties of seeds and saplings, setting up nurseries, and training participants about diseases, your generosity is supporting women as they organize into self-help groups so that they can transform cacao into chocolates and other products, and earn an even bigger income. About a third of the farmers in this project are women.

 After receiving donor-supported business training and a small gasoline-powered grinder, Neydi has worked alongside her self-help group to make chocolates and gelatin, adding value to this precious commodity. About 70% to 80% of what is not processed is sold as raw material to Halba, a local cacao company, through a relationship Heifer helped establish.

“It was very difficult before; now it’s easier because we have the equipment,” she said.

With the grinder, a process that used to take more than four hours now takes just one hour or less. They sell the chocolates for 100 lempiras, about $4 USD, a pound, the same price they sold them for before. Neydi estimates she earns about 2,000 lempiras, or $81 USD, monthly from chocolate sales.

Thanks to her training made possible by your support, she can keep track of her profit, record sales and production costs, and document other important financial information to help her business grow.

Neydi’s daughter Esli, who is six, is a fan of her mother’s new business venture.

“She likes everything [made from cacao] since she started to eat,” Neydi said.