Sugarcane, okra and coffee groups turn Choluteca's harvests into rural jobs

Three producer organisations in the Choluteca department of southern Honduras have turned their sugarcane, okra and coffee into steady work for rural people. In a feature published on 4 February 2026, the World Bank reported that all three had been supported by ComRural II, a project implemented by the Government of Honduras with World Bank backing. Choluteca is bounded by the Gulf of Fonseca to the west and by Nicaragua to the east and south. It covers about 4,397 square kilometres and had 447,852 inhabitants at the 2015 census; agriculture, fishing, sugar production and shrimp farming are central to its economy.

Sugarcane from Choluteca's mountainsides feeds Honduras's first industrial plant for powdered sugarcane, built by the Union of Sugarcane Producers of the South (UPROCASUR). The plant provides more than 200 permanent jobs and up to 1,000 during the harvest season.

The business grew out of an idea of the union's board. "We wanted to go beyond harvesting and start processing the sugar to take on more steps of the value chain," said Mauricio Larios, a board member and sugarcane producer. The members even travelled to Colombia to bring back better practices. Evenilda Morán, the union's president, said the plant energises the local economy through the transport, harvesting, administrative, cleaning and technical services it hires. In 2023 the union lost an international buyer who had agreed to place large volumes when he died unexpectedly; it sought assistance and carried on.

Nearly 80 percent of the Honduran workforce survives in the informal economy, especially in rural areas, and the World Bank says okra, exported in large volumes, is helping to close that gap through companies such as CAVEXSA. Begun by small producers, it now employs more than 600 people permanently. It grows 200 manzanas of okra with an average yield of 2,625 seven-kilogram boxes, enough to ship one container a day to the United States, Spain, England, France, Italy and Portugal. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) belongs to the mallow family, originated in East Africa and tolerates heat and drought well.

CAVEXSA began when an agro-exporter persuaded growers to switch crops wholesale and then failed to buy the harvest. "We sent full containers of okra and received only a fraction of what was expected. More than 180 producers were on the verge of bankruptcy," recalled Juan Ordóñez. The growers formed their own company, keeping control of production, processing and export, and with funds for equipment and facilities made it a regional model of sustainable production. "Thanks to okra, I was able to pay off many debts and improve my home," said producer Denia Calderón.

Coffee is important to the Honduran economy; in 2011 the country became Central America's leading producer. In Choluteca the San Marqueña Coffee Cooperative (COCASAM) produces 11 quintales of coffee and exports all of it as specialty coffee to the United States and France. "When my husband passed away, they gave me the opportunity to work and provide for my five children, and today it allows me to pay for the insulin I need," said Ana Julia Ríos, a cooperative worker. Eric Pastrana, who was born on a coffee farm, trained in the quality area and can now tell apart the coffees the cooperative exports.

According to the World Bank's projects database, Integrating Innovation for Rural Competitiveness in Honduras, known as ComRural II, was approved on 27 June 2019 with a commitment of US$75 million and is implemented by the Honduran Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG).

The World Bank said the project had promoted 19 business plans nationwide, benefiting more than 10,000 people, and that beyond finance it offers technical assistance, infrastructure, technology and training. Its Private Financial Ally schemes had mobilised more than US$14 million in private capital for initiatives such as UPROCASUR, CAVEXSA and COCASAM, and more than 3,200 Hondurans had found work through the business plans it supports. It is aligned with AgriConnect, the World Bank Group's initiative for small-scale farming that creates jobs, growth and food security.

Photo: Intimaralem85 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sources: World Bank, World Bank projects database (ComRural II, P168385), Wikipedia (Choluteca Department, Okra, Coffee production in Honduras)