A bridge between the forest and the European market
Solidaridad is running a regional project called Protecting Forests and Farmers (Farm2Forest) in Honduras and Peru, funded by the Postcode Lottery. Its core aim is to make sure small-scale coffee and cocoa farmers aren’t left out of international trade simply because they lack the technical tools.
The project consists of three main pillars:
- Using high-precision mapping to clearly differentiate between agroforestry systems and natural forests.
- Capacity building: Hands-on training so farmers can smoothly adopt sustainable practices.
- Advocacy and scaling up: Partnering with governments and companies to validate these solutions on a larger scale.
Honduras: The big challenge of small-scale farming
In Honduras, coffee is the main livelihood for about 120,000 families. But here’s the catch: 86% of these farmers manage less than 7 hectares. Because the land is so fragmented, getting technical help is absolutely vital. The good news is that proper practices make a massive difference on smaller plots. While a traditional farmer working on less than 1.5 hectares usually produces around 821 kg/ha, those who adopt the project’s technical package jump up to 1,687 kg/ha.
To make this shift happen on the ground, the project is teaming up with five key local organizations: ASOPROSAN, CAFESMO, COMICAOL, COMICLOL and COPRACNIL.
Supporting farmers with knowledge
The real heart of this transformation in Honduras is the training element. These aren’t boring, theoretical lectures; they’re about building a real learning infrastructure out in the fields.
So far, the progress demonstrates notable change:
- EUDR awareness: More than 700 people better understand that meeting EUDR requirements isn’t just a bunch of paperwork; it’s actually a market opportunity.
- Learning on the ground: 18 demo plots have been set up, and teams have made 258 personalized technical visits to help farmers one-on-one.
- Tailored regional strategies: The project knows every area is different. For instance, in Ocotepeque, the focus is on their strong, export-oriented leadership. Meanwhile, in El Paraíso, coffee farming is often just about getting by, so the focus is on participating in cooperatives to overcome local mistrust and cut out the middlemen.
While a big part of the project involves analyzing plots to help make decisions based on deforestation risks, the real game-changer is transforming the whole production model. Through this training, the goal is to help farmers move away from just surviving day-to-day and guide them toward running climate-smart businesses. They are boosting their yields simply by picking up a strategic, practical and scalable toolkit.
The training modules: The pillars of staying competitive
Pruning and plant rejuvenation: An exhausted coffee plant just isn’t profitable. Managing the plant’s growth is essential to boost production. Data shows that while 63% of farmers already do basic pruning, only 14% actually plan out how they renew their crops. We teach them how to replace old, unproductive stems to increase yields and make harvesting a lot easier.
Crop management (Climate-Smart Agriculture): Success doesn’t come from just doing one thing right; it’s about the whole package. The baseline data is clear: farmers who adopt six or seven good practices (like managing shade, soil testing, targeted fertilizing, etc.) produce 37% more than those who only try a couple. Plus, there is a big focus on conservation, using live barriers, mulch and contour planting to protect the soil from erosion without having to clear any nearby forest to grow more.
Smart farm management and financial education: A farm plot needs to be treated like a rural business. We are working closely with young cooperatives to build up their business skills so they can negotiate better volumes and prices, making sure the profits stay with them rather than middlemen.
The Seeds of the Future nursery: Genetic innovation
One of our most ambitious moves to close quality gaps is the Seeds of the Future initiative, featuring five study plots in El Paraíso. Here, the initiative is working with the Arara variety, a Brazilian hybrid known for being highly productive and resistant to coffee rust. The goal is to get this variety well-established so that, down the road, it can give farmers high-quality genetic material. This will improve their coffee’s flavor profile, helping them tap into specialty coffee prices.
A major step forward: Partnering up for the future
To back all of this up, Solidaridad and the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) recently signed a key cooperative agreement aimed directly at making the country’s coffee sector more sustainable and competitive.
As the new European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) brings new challenges, this alliance is going to be crucial. Together, both teams are working to develop and validate high-tech geospatial maps to track forest boundaries and analyze deforestation alerts over the last five years. IHCAFE will provide the technical backing to test these tools using a screening protocol developed by Solidaridad, which will also help clean up and improve the national coffee census for better decision-making across the whole industry.
At the same time, we’ll be working hand-in-hand to get the word out to local farmers and cooperatives about what the EUDR actually means, turning a complex rule into clear international market opportunities. It’s a solid team effort to keep Honduran coffee resilient, forest-friendly and ready for global demands.
What’s next?
The next phase is all about locking in these wins. The project is shifting focus toward stronger field support, tailoring technical assistance so it matches the natural cycles of the crops perfectly. This flexibility ensures every single farmer gets the right support exactly when harvest time comes.
On the tech and strategy side, the main focus will be on delivering high-precision mapping tools. These are designed to help people make better decisions across the Honduran coffee supply chain, making it much easier to prove their sustainability to international markets.
Finally, the project’s long-term future is backed by investing in people, strengthening gender committees and deepening ties with key institutions like IHCAFE. With a proactive approach, the project isn’t just hitting technical goals; it’s building a solid foundation so Honduran coffee keeps standing out for its quality, transparency and success on the global stage.