HONDURAS - Danilo Sánchez

Danilo Sánchez began growing coffee 15 years ago. Back then, he was a young man who helped his father on the coffee plots his family owned, learning the craft from him. It wasn’t until 2009 that his father passed down a plot of land to him. Filled with love and passion, Danilo planted his first coffee plants, and with his initial earnings, he reinvested to expand his crops, to the five hectares he has now. Danilo is the third generation of coffee growers in his family. For them, coffee growing is a tradition handed down from one generation to the next, but it’s also a necessity, his family relies solely on coffee income to sustain themselves. He grows coffee not only out of tradition but also out of genuine passion. However, this path isn’t without challenges. Labour shortages present a significant issue; each season, they face uncertainty over whether they will have enough workers to harvest their crops. Climate change also adds to the difficulties, affecting their yields and cultivation practices. While they don’t consider themselves to have achieved great financial success, Danilo and his family feel a sense of accomplishment. Coffee cultivation has provided them with what they need, but Danilo’s long-term goal is to give his children a better life than he had, ensuring they have access to good education, healthcare, and nutrition. He also hopes to keep his plots in excellent, productive condition.

A little more about Honduras coffee sector: 
Honduras has been internationally exploited for its agricultural output over the years (including palm oil, livestock, sugarcane, coffee and bananas).  With the ongoing issue of intermediaries taking a huge cut of the profits, Semilla (our importer) works directly with Danilo Sanchez and other farmers to ensure that investments and profits remain within coffee growing communities.

One of the reasons why Semilla is so excited to work in communities like Selguapa in Honduras is because of the quality potential these areas hold due to their altitude. As we’ve all heard many times, Arabica stocks worldwide are under constant threat due to climate change spurring on diseases that destroy crops. According to local agronomists there, in 2019 nearly 25% of the country’s entire production was destroyed by coffee leaf rust.