HONDURAS Fair and Permanent Coffee Forum Statement

Your Excellency Hector Zelaya , Special SR to the President of the Republic of Honduras,

His Excellency Eduardo Enrique Reina, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Honduras,

Her Excellency, Laura Suaza, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Honduras,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is indeed an honour to come to this great country.

I appreciate the work of Her Excellency Xiomara Castro, President of the Republic, of His Excellency Enrique Reina, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and of Her Excellency Laura Suazo, Minister of Agriculture.

I am also very happy to see that my good friend for over a decade Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development, is also connected virtually. Jeffrey is a meaningful promoter of the SDGs, especially SDG1 and SDG2.

It is indeed an honour to address you today on this important occasion - celebrating coffee and the people who produce it.

I came from a tea culture but adopted coffee in 1984 when it wasn't widely consumed in China. I promoted the tea industry in China and advocated for the International Tea Day at the United Nations. This took me twenty years to achieve. As Vice Minister in China, I designed initiatives to promote tea and coffee, along with their cultural significance.

As FAO Director-General, in 2022 I started focusing on promoting coffee. Working with several ambassadors, I initiated efforts that culminated in the endorsement for an International Coffee Day by the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP) last week. This achievement took just two years.

I appreciate the work of your Ambassador and your Ministers, and I am pleased that you now have a Vice Ministry responsible for coffee. Your coffee culture has now really spread in Europe!

The Fair and Permanent Coffee Forum offers a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge on how to transform the coffee sector into a more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable industry. 

Today’s meeting is taking place at the crossroads of numerous complex and inter-connected challenges facing the world.

Persistent food insecurity, the climate crises, the rising cost of living, increasing  geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation, macro-economic challenges and increasing debt burdens for many countries create a complex context not only for the coffee sector, but for global agrifood systems. We need to produce more with less.

Solutions to address these challenges require a multilateral and multi-faceted approach. 

Transformation of global agrifood systems must be at the centre of our common efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

The coffee industry can play a crucial role in many contexts.

The value of global coffee production is estimated at around 15 billion US Dollars annually, with smallholder producers accounting for a large share of the global output.

And the value of world trade in coffee is about USD 22 billion annually, while the annual total revenues in the coffee industry exceed USD 200 billion.

Coffee exports represent an important source of revenue, especially for many low-income countries that rely on foreign exchange to cover their import bills and to access a variety of goods and services in the world markets.

For instance, coffee exports account for 13 percent of total merchandize exports for Honduras. This figure goes up to as much as 30 percent for Ethiopia.

But the coffee sector faces several challenges that need urgent attention such as loss of biodiversity, pests and diseases control and high price volatility, among others.

Dear Colleagues,

Honduras is the largest coffee producer in the Central America and the Caribbean region, harvesting some of the finest coffee beans in the world. However, the best bean does not mean the best coffee for consumers, and  FAO would like to offer assistance to improve the added value.

The value of Honduran coffee production represents about 21 percent of the country’s total value of agricultural production and plays a vital role in the economy by providing jobs, export revenues, and a livelihood for smallholder producers. In this regard, I have had intensive discussions with both the former and current President on the profit for the producers.

Over 90 percent of the country’s coffee production is exported, mostly in the form of green coffee beans, making coffee a key source of foreign exchange.

It is also estimated that the sector provides a source of living for 120 000 coffee growers, with approximately 95 percent categorized as small-scale producers, cultivating a land size of less than two hectares.

Despite its economic importance, the coffee industry in Honduras faces several challenges, including low levels of productivity and limited access to global markets. And more important, how to create jobs.

To enable the coffee sector to leverage its potential, it is crucial to prioritise impactful solutions.

The sector needs to be strengthened through targeted interventions in infrastructure, sustainability, market access, and support to producers in technology, capacity building, e-commerce, and how to access the world.

A priority action to upgrade the national coffee sector is enhancing the infrastructure and technology available to coffee growers and cooperatives. FAO wants to assist you! Now is the time for coffee hour not only coffee break!

Investing in modern coffee processing facilities, marketing channels, and communication and transportation networks will improve the quality of coffee beans and reduce post-harvest losses, allowing farmers to maximize their revenues.

The impacts of the climate crisis on the coffee sector in Honduras can be severe, as higher temperature, changing rainfall patterns, and increased pests and diseases can cause crop losses and affect yields.

It is therefore essential to invest in climate-resilient farming practices such as shade-grown coffee to improve coffee quality and preserve biodiversity.

And to encourage farmers to adopt agroforestry techniques which by integrating trees into coffee farms provides natural protection from temperature extremes and pests, while enhancing soil health.

Furthermore, promoting sustainable farming certifications, such as Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade, can enhance the appeal of Honduran coffee, making it more attractive and more competitive in the global markets.

Although Honduras produces large quantities of coffee, much of it is sold as bulk beans on the global markets at generally low prices.

It is therefore important to develop the coffee value chain.

For instance, a stronger national brand can highlight the uniqueness of varieties and flavours that distinguish the Honduran coffee.

This can be achieved through a collaborative effort by government, producers and exporters to develop a national strategy to promote Honduran coffee in the world specialty coffee markets. This would allow the country to benefit from value addition and increase producer prices and export revenues.

Additionally, expanding trade relationships, including by participating in international coffee fairs and promotion campaigns, can open doors to new markets.

Finally, strengthening the coffee sector requires empowering coffee farmers through capacity development programmes that provide training on best practices in the cultivation of coffee, post-harvest processing, and quality control.

Farmers need to be trained on how they can maximize yields, while maintaining high-quality standards that meet international market demand.

They also need to have better access to credit and market information.

Access to affordable credit is fundamental to allow farmers to invest in their operations, upgrade their equipment, purchase better inputs and adopt new technologies.

Access to market information allows farmers to sell their coffee at the optimal time and receive higher prices.

Dear Colleagues,

By strengthening the coffee sector and addressing the needs of coffee growers, Honduras can increase the quantity and quality of its coffee production and promote its global reputation as a producer of premium coffee.

FAO stands ready to work with the Government of Honduras to provide all the required technical support to transform the coffee sector.

Let us continue to work together in an efficient, effective and coherent manner.

I wish you a very productive meeting leading to tangible improvements in the coffee sector, and benefits to small producers and service providers.

Thank you.