Coffee harvest plunges in Honduras and Costa Rica amid Central American exodus

Published 2023년 2월 23일

Tridge summary

Central American coffee farms are facing a labor shortage as seasonal workers migrate in search of better opportunities, particularly in the United States. This issue is profoundly affecting small-scale coffee producers in Honduras and Costa Rica, where coffee is a key source of income and employment. The mass emigration from Nicaragua, triggered by political unrest, has further exacerbated the problem. In Honduras, the coffee industry, which accounts for 38% of the agricultural GDP, is struggling with half the required workforce, leading to lower harvests and income losses. Similarly, in Costa Rica, the absence of Nicaraguan laborers is reducing harvest sizes by five percent, impacting the country's coffee export earnings.

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Original content

Nestled in the mountains of central Honduras, the "El Encanto" coffee farm is tackling this year's harvest with half the pickers it needs. In Costa Rica's Central Valley, the "Hersaca Tres Marias" farm faces a similar dilemma. The seasonal laborers both rely on are among the thousands to have abandoned Central American shores in search of a better life elsewhere. "Many of our coffee pickers now go to the United States, to other countries, for a lack of opportunities" at home, farmer Selvin Marquez, 34, told AFP in Siguatepeque, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa. Coffee growers like Marquez are at their wit's end, watching the fruit of their labors, and their incomes, shrivel up. Marquez planted five hectares of coffee that now needs harvesting. But he has only 20 of the 40 pickers he needs. One of them is Jose Samuel Hernandez, 34, in the fields with his wife Esly Mejia, 24, ...

Source: Phys