Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The struggling to survive and grow coffee a profitable activity for thousands of small producers will continue in 2021 due to the many problems that have affected the sector for several years, such as debt, low prices, and that for this harvest we add the lack of cutters to collect the ripe fruit, the deteriorated tertiary streets to access the farms and with a low demand worldwide.
At the start of the 2020-2021 crop, the Honduran Coffee Institute (Ihcafé) estimated that production this season would be 8.2 million quintals, but for many industry experts it will be barely 7.2 million quintals. of the golden grain.
This is due to the problems that producers have in getting cutters that have come in in previous years Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaraguto; But because of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, coffee growers have to pay 600 L for a quick test for each person they want to hire for their farms, explains Jorge Pinto, representative of coffee growers in the west of the country.
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The producer also pointed out that passing the storms Eta and Iota would reduce the road infrastructure they had in the departments of Copán, Ocotepeque, Lempira, Santa Bárbara and Intibucá. “We went back 15 years, the tertiary roads are eVery damaged, ”he noted.
Pinto pointed to the work being done by the National Coffee Fund, which began in December to restore access to the farms. “Right now we’re in the midst of the cut, we’re 80% capable of enabling the coffee growing areas. Now we’re making a superhuman effort to get out of this problem. Coffee production was calculated at 8.2 million, but we are not going to achieve that production, every day they report a decrease in coffee due to the lack of labor, as here in the West we cut with people from Guatemala, ”he explained.
Dagoberto Suazo, President of La Central de Cooperativas Cafetaleras de Honduras (La Central) pointed out that the streets are being cleared according to the plan implemented between the government and the coffee organizations to harvest the harvest.
Suazo pointed out that more than 250 machines are operating in the 15 coffee producing divisions to reduce losses and access the foreign exchange the country needs it in these moments of crisis.
Debts
Fredy Pastrana, coffee producer and representative from the eastern part of the country, said the situation is dire. “We have been warning for years that the sector is not making a profit, the debt continues to grow: there are more than 63,000 producers that they owe it to the bank ”, he complained.
Pastrana criticized the “abandonment” of coffee establishments because of the debt problem and lack of support from the National Congress, as they long ago proposed a financing plan for the benefit of coffee growers with low 10-year interest rates and the same has not been taken into account by the deputies kept.
He also indicated that the price for which coffee is sold in Honduras is much lower than in neighboring countries. “We have left the producers alone, who continue to harvest and borrow,” said de producer from El Paraíso. Finally, Pastrana called on the president of the republic to hold an emergency meeting so that a response can be given to producers in crisis.
Víctor Barahona, manager of the Central Nacional de Cooperativas Limitada (Uniocoop), He noted that part of the crisis starts with the few resources allocated to the agricultural sector in the general budget of the Republic. “If you look at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG) budgets for the past 10 years, you won’t find any support. The same 2000 million L was approved for agriculture. Little is invested in agriculture, where food is produced and foreign exchange generated for exports, ”he said.
Barahona said the agriculture and coffee issue should undergo a policy change to improve the country’s productivity, as well as improve the marketing of coffee in the international market with marketing experts looking for better prices for national coffee and producers.
Little demand
Miguel Pon, Executive Director of the Association of Coffee Exporters of Honduras (Adecafeh), pointed out that coffee exports have fallen due to the delays in coffee farms due to road damage within the coffee communities, but in addition they noted that there is something that makes them alert, and it’s the low demand internationally.
“It is extremely difficult to make coffee at the moment”, Pon warned.
The exporter pointed out that this harvest will be complicated as the real impact of covid-19 will now be felt there.n Honduran coffee cultivation. The executive director of Adecafeh indicated that the covid-19 did not actually have a major impact, but that this impact is felt abroad due to the incarceration measures being taken. return in Europe.
“We have to wait and see what will happen with the pandemic worldwide, the entire chain depends on that, it will be pointless if the coffee price is high if it cannot be placed. There is hope with vaccines, but it will take time, ”he said.
As for the destination of exports, Pon stressed that to date the United States is the country that imports the most grain; In addition, Colombia also buys lower-quality Honduran coffee for blending.
Finally, Pon said we should be alert to the outbreaks taking place in the country as people relax a lot and it is doubtful what will happen to the country in January and January. February as the number of cases continues to increase.
Last December, the price of coffee rose again, motivating producers to harvest their crops, but it is not known if that trend will continue.
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Keys to the crisis 1. Lack of milling Many parts of the country report the decline in grain, as the high cost involved has prevented producers from renting coffee cutters from neighboring countries as in previous years, as rapid tests have to be carried out. 2. Hurricane damage The passage of the storms Eta and Iota through the national territory in November severely damaged the tertiary highways to access the various farms in the 15 departments of the country, with those to the east and west most severely damaged by the destruction. were hit. 3. Low demand Exporters pointed out that as a result of the global pandemic situation, international demand for coffee has fallen dramatically, placing Honduran coffee abroad making export figures low. |