In the Santa Rosa # 1 community of Teupasenti, El Paraíso, women are an important source of sustenance for their homes. They are dedicated to agriculture, especially to the cultivation of beans. This is the case of María Salomé Rosales, 57 years old, mother of 3 children and grandmother of 8 grandchildren. Together with her husband Martín Rosales, they have managed to move their family forward. They have both been planting beans for over 40 years, and her husband is proud of her for supporting him in agriculture.
Two years ago, TechnoServe’s Sustainable Agricultural Improvement (MAS 2.0) project, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), came to the community to organize them into a Rural Fund, provide agronomic technical assistance, and link them to a formal market.
Through the MAS project in the alliance with the Foundation for Rural Business Development (Funder) it was possible to organize the Rural Savings and Credit Fund “CRAC La Esperanza” with a membership of 21 partners [de los cuales 10 son mujeres], granting them legal status. Funder constantly trains them in various topics such as accounting management, loan granting, savings, among others.
For her leadership and initiative to move her community forward, María was elected to be the president of the CRAC.
CRAC La Esperanza has an “ECA” Field School, where producers learn about the best agronomic practices of bean cultivation. First, the community trainer teaches them the theoretical part and then they move on to the ECA to apply what they have learned. The topics are according to the crop cycle: soil preparation, seed preparation, sowing, pest and disease control, fertilization, harvest, cleaning, classification, storage and marketing.
“We have very good communication with the TechnoServe staff and that has made teaching easier for the group, we are learning a lot. We feel that they have come to revolutionize bean cultivation, ”said María.
María comments that before the project came to teach them the proper management of the crop, they used 120 pounds of beans to plant an apple, now they use 60 pounds of the certified Red Chortí seed to plant the same apple. They have put the coach’s teachings into practice and the result is increased production; Before they harvested 6 quintals per apple and now they are harvesting 20 qq.
The intermediaries came to the community and bought the beans at very low prices. “We have always harvested beans and it was sold very cheap. The intermediary paid the quintal to L400. Now that we have signed a contract with the Honduran Institute of Agricultural Marketing (IHMA), he pays us L1,250 per quintal as a guarantee price. With the earnings from the beans, I can now buy more food and clothes for my family, I managed to make a room in my house and I can supply my grocery store ”, expressed Maria with emotion.
So far since the pandemic, the community trainer has visited the group to train it; always wearing your biosecurity equipment. When the coach could not mobilize due to country restrictions, he went to trainings by phone.
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