Honduras

Over the two decades, Honduras has risen to become the dominant exporter of coffee in Central America. Historically, Honduras has been known primarily as a source for commercial-grade arabicas, but the country today produces a wide range of qualities from commercial to specialty.1 Coffee is the main agricultural export crop; the country’s 120,000+ coffee farms contribute a third of agricultural GDP.2 Honduras has one of the most organized coffee sectors in the region, primarily through IHCAFE, which supports farmers to access fertilizers and other inputs, loan repayment, and renovation. The country is expanded its planted area since the introduction of a newer rust-resistant variety called Parainema, to over 300,000 hectares.1 Honduras has younger trees on average than many neighboring countries due to an organized national renovation program initiated after the 2012 coffee leaf rust epidemic. Honduran farmers grow a mix of traditional and improved arabica varieties, including Lempira and Parainema.

1. USDA Coffee Annual: Honduras, 2025.
2. Creating Markets in Honduras, World Bank/IFC 2022.


Global export rank
4th
International Coffee Organization, 2017-2019 mean
Coffee produced by smallholders
95%
Enveritas Global Farmer Study, 2018
Our Strategy

WCR has worked actively in Honduras for nearly a decade. As part of the MOCCA program (2017-2025), WCR worked to improve coffee breeding and agronomic research in collaboration with IHCAFE and Promecafe, including the establishment of a regional breeding hub managed by IHCAFE and the transfer of a “core collection” of genetic material (97 accessions) as an initial breeding population, as well as supported the implementation of multi-location agronomy trials focused on leaf rust resistance and nutrition. WCR is also working to increase farmer access to high-performing, genetically verified varieties by supporting seedlot upgrades, training, and nursery capacity building. Complementary projects are funded by targeted WCR member company investments in their supply chains. From 2015-2023, Honduras hosted three WCR International Multilocation Variety trial sites.

Current Activity

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