{ "id": "honduras", "url": "https://coffearium.org/entries/honduras/", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "title": "Honduras", "summary": "An arabica-only origin of smallholders in the mountains of western, central and eastern Honduras, harvested from October to March, with the national coffee institute IHCAFE at the centre of its statistics, research and trade.", "domain": "origin", "kind": "Region", "stage": "farm", "topics": [ "history" ], "topicSections": {}, "lang": "en", "status": "verified", "lastVerified": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z", "literatureSearched": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z", "updated": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z", "added": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z", "brief": [ "Honduras produced 5.53 million bags of 60 kg in 2025/26, all arabica, by the count of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA); USDA forecasts 6.03 million for 2026/27.1", "In the national coffee institute’s (IHCAFE) table for 2023/24, small producers were 94.3% of 92,421 registered producers but grew 53.8% of the coffee (our calculation).5", "The coffee harvest runs from October to March, depending on the altitude of the farm, according to IHCAFE.6", "In January 2013 the government declared a national phytosanitary emergency over leaf rust, citing an IHCAFE study that found 25% of the coffee area affected.13", "Café de Marcala (registered November 2005) and Cafés del Occidente Hondureño are protected in the EU under its association agreement with Central America.20,21" ], "quickFacts": [ { "label": "Production (USDA)", "value": "5.53 million 60-kg bags (2025/26); 6.03 million forecast (2026/27)" }, { "label": "Production (FAO)", "value": "324,015 t green coffee (2024), tenth of 78 countries" }, { "label": "Production (agricultural census)", "value": "290,444 t (agricultural year April 2023 – March 2024, preliminary; form of coffee not stated)" }, { "label": "Share of world output", "value": "3.09% (USDA, 2025/26) · 2.91% (FAO, 2024), our calculation" }, { "label": "Species", "value": "Arabica only in USDA’s tables" }, { "label": "Area", "value": "440,217 ha planted, 407,680 ha in production (census, 2023/24, preliminary)" }, { "label": "Where", "value": "15 of 18 departments; six coffee regions (Copán, Opalaca, Montecillos, Comayagua, El Paraíso, Agalta)" }, { "label": "Altitude", "value": "1,000–1,600 m (USDA, 2025)" }, { "label": "Harvest", "value": "October–March, by altitude (IHCAFE)" }, { "label": "Producers", "value": "92,421 registered with IHCAFE (2023/24, our sum); more than 120,000 families (IHCAFE, 2020–21)" }, { "label": "Coffee year", "value": "October–September (USDA marketing year)" }, { "label": "Exports", "value": "USD 2,329.1 million FOB, 6.5 million 46-kg bags (calendar year 2025)" }, { "label": "Geographical indications", "value": "Café de Marcala; Cafés del Occidente Hondureño (Honduran Western Coffees)" } ], "aka": [ "Honduran coffee" ], "linkTerms": [ "Honduran coffee", "Honduras coffee", "IHCAFE", "Instituto Hondureño del Café", "Café de Marcala", "Marcala", "Cafés del Occidente Hondureño", "Honduran Western Coffees" ], "related": [ "coffee-production-by-country", "the-coffee-belt", "coffea-arabica", "arabica-varieties", "the-timor-hybrid", "coffee-leaf-rust", "harvest-calendars", "crop-year-and-coffee-year", "washed-process", "drying", "green-coffee-grading", "grading-and-sorting", "auctions-and-competitions", "certifications-and-labels", "living-income", "differentials", "coffee-yields", "eudr", "peru", "colombia" ], "contested": [ "Size of the crop: USDA gives 5.53 million 60-kg bags for marketing year 2025/26 (October–September), which is 331,800 t (our calculation)1; FAO gives 324,015 t of green coffee for calendar year 20243; the 2024 agricultural census gives 290,443.6 t for the agricultural year April 2023 – March 2024, preliminary and without stating the form of coffee.7 For 2023/24, IHCAFE’s table by farm size sums to 4,650,354 bags of 60 kg (our calculation), against 5.05 million in USDA’s post estimate for the same year.5 The sources consulted do not explain the differences.", "Coffee area: the 2024 census counts 440,217.3 ha planted and 407,680.0 ha in production (2023/24, preliminary)7; USDA’s post estimates 330,000 ha planted and 292,000 ha harvested for 2023/245; IHCAFE’s table by farm size gives harvested areas that sum to 280,097 ha for 2023/24 (our calculation)5; the ICO’s 2013 report, with figures from the regional programme PROMECAFÉ, gives 280,000 ha for 2012/1314; the 2013 emergency decree speaks of 400,000 manzanas.13", "Number of producers: 92,421 producers registered with IHCAFE in 2023/24 (our sum of the three size classes)5; more than 120,000 families in IHCAFE’s 2020–21 report and in the agriculture minister’s speech of October 20256,28; more than 100,000 families on IHCAFE’s regions page (no year)11; more than 110,000 families in the 2013 decree13; about 55,000 mostly small producers in the Library of Congress country study of 1995.27 Registered producers and families are different counts.", "Municipalities with coffee: 221 of 298 in IHCAFE’s 2020–21 report6; 210 of 298 on IHCAFE’s regions page and in USDA’s 2025 report.11,5 Both give 15 of 18 departments.", "Number of coffee regions: a 2009 study states that Honduras had identified five regions (Agalta Tropical, Azul Meambar, Copán, Montecillos-Marcala and Opalaca)20; USDA (2025) and a 2016 release of the Presidency name six: Copán, Opalaca, Montecillos, Comayagua, El Paraíso and Agalta.5,24", "Leaf rust damage in 2012–2013: the emergency decree of January 2013 cites an IHCAFE study of 2012 that found 25% of the coffee area affected, and losses of up to 25% (the decree does not say of what)13; the ICO’s May 2013 report, with PROMECAFÉ figures for 2012/13, gives 70,000 ha affected of 280,000 ha, an incidence of 25%, losses of 1,303,333 bags of 60 kg worth USD 230.0 million and 100,000 jobs lost (column assignment our reading of the table)14; in FAO’s series, production fell by 18.3% from 2012 to 2013 (our calculation).2", "Share of small producers: 95% of producing families are small producers (under 50 quintales of green coffee) in IHCAFE’s 2020–21 report6; 92% in IHCAFE’s report for 2021–229; 94.3% of registered producers in IHCAFE’s 2023/24 table (our calculation)5; a 2015 review, citing PROMECAFÉ, counts 94% of Honduran coffee producers as smallholders with less than 7 ha.15 The definitions of “small” differ." ], "corrections": [], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "title": "Coffee: World Markets and Trade (July 2026)", "authors": "USDA Foreign Agricultural Service", "year": 2026, "publisher": "United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service", "url": "https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/2026/07/coffee.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Honduras rows in the Coffee Summary tables Arabica Production, Production, Bean Exports and Exports (thousand 60-kg bags, marketing years 2021/22–2026/27); world total for Production. Honduras has no separate row for roast and ground exports or domestic consumption. Honduras’s marketing year (October–September) from the table Marketing Years for Producing Countries. Edition of July 2026. Values read through a summarising fetch. Shares and conversions to tonnes are our calculation.", "quote": "Honduras is expected to account for nearly all the region’s growth, rebounding 500,000 bags to 6.0 million", "quotes": [], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "USDA FAS PSD tables, Honduras, marketing years 2021/22–2026/27; July 2026 edition", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s2", "title": "Coffee bean production (FAOSTAT, Crops and livestock products, item Coffee, green)", "authors": "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); processed by Our World in Data", "year": 2026, "publisher": "FAO via Our World in Data", "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/coffee-bean-production", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "FAO statistics are Tier A; read through Our World in Data, which republishes the FAOSTAT series in tonnes. Values for Honduras, calendar years 1961–2024, read on 3 Nov 2026 from the chart’s filtered CSV download (country Honduras, time 1961..2024, tab chart) through a summarising fetch that returned all 64 rows; a second fetch of 14 rows with the entity and code columns gave the same values. The 2024 value (324,015.03 t) matches the site’s FAOSTAT extract (324,015.02 t) after rounding. When the entry was checked (3 Nov 2026), a further fetch of the filtered CSV returned all 64 values unrounded, and every value in the table and chart matches.", "quotes": [], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "FAOSTAT green coffee production, Honduras, calendar years 1961–2024", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s3", "title": "FAOSTAT: Crops and livestock products (item “Coffee, green”, element “Production”, 2024)", "authors": "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations", "year": 2026, "publisher": "FAO, licence CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Values and flags from the FAOSTAT extract of 11 Oct 2026 used by the site’s world coffee map, kept in tools/figures/data/the-coffee-belt-production-faostat-2024.json (78 countries and territories; Honduras 324,015.02 t, flag A, ‘official value’). Rank, sum (11,133,143 t) and share are our calculation.", "quotes": [], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "FAOSTAT 2024 extract, 78 countries and territories", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s4", "title": "Coffee bean yields; Coffee bean production (FAOSTAT, Crops and livestock products, item Coffee, green)", "authors": "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); processed by Our World in Data", "year": 2026, "publisher": "FAO via Our World in Data", "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/coffee-yields", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "FAO statistics are Tier A; read through Our World in Data. Honduras, 1961–2024, read on 3 Nov 2026 from the chart’s filtered CSV download through a summarising fetch (1961: 0.2767 t/ha; highest 1.2324 t/ha in 2015; 2024: 1.2148 t/ha, given here as 1,215 kg/ha, as in Coffee yields).", "quotes": [], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "FAOSTAT green coffee yield, Honduras, 1961–2024", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s5", "title": "Honduras: Coffee Annual (HO2025-0002)", "authors": "Fiallos, J. (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Tegucigalpa)", "year": 2025, "publisher": "USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, GAIN report", "url": "https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Coffee+Annual_Tegucigalpa_Honduras_HO2025-0002.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Government report dated 8 May 2025 (post estimates and forecasts, not official USDA figures). Table 1 (‘Producers by Size, Area Harvested, and Production 2023/2024’) gives farmers registered with IHCAFE, area harvested (ha) and production (60-kg bags) for small, medium and large producers, source ‘IHCAFE Coffee Statistics Report 2023/2024’; the table has no total row and does not define the size classes, so totals and shares are our calculation. Export shares for MY 2024/25 are read from a chart. The department rust figures are forecasts for July 2024 – August 2025; the report does not say who made them. The year of the Marcala denomination is given only as ‘a year later’ than 2004. The 2026 Coffee Annual could not be located. Read through a summarising fetch; quotes are passages the fetch returned verbatim.", "quote": "Coffee is produced in 15 of the country's 18 departments", "quotes": [ { "text": "six key regions: Copán, Montecillos, Opalaca, Comayagua, El Paraíso, and Agalta", "for": "regions" }, { "text": "located at elevations between 1,000 and 1,600 meters above sea level.", "for": "altitude" }, { "text": "with 61 percent of farms located between 3,900 and 5,200 feet above sea level", "for": "farms by altitude" }, { "text": "Table 1. Producers by Size, Area Harvested, and Production 2023/2024", "for": "producers by size" }, { "text": "driven by the introduction of the Parainema variety, a rust-resistant coffee cultivar", "for": "Parainema" }, { "text": "national incidence levels forecast to remain low through August 2025, averaging 2.9 percent", "for": "rust 2024/25" }, { "text": "Higher localized incidence is projected in the departments of Intibucá (5.9 percent), Santa Bárbara (4.2 percent),", "for": "rust by department" }, { "text": "In April 2024, IHCAFE surveys showed that 76 percent of sampled farms exhibited low levels of rust", "for": "rust survey" }, { "text": "support 33,000 producers covering 250,000 blocks", "for": "renewal programme" }, { "text": "IHCAFE operates six research and training centers across Honduras", "for": "research centres" }, { "text": "In 2004, Honduras joined the prestigious Cup of Excellence (COE) competition", "for": "Cup of Excellence" }, { "text": "The selection process begins with approximately 1,200 producers who compete in regional quality contests.", "for": "Cup of Excellence selection" }, { "text": "A year later, the country received its first Geographical Indicator (GI) with the designation of origin for Marcala Coffee.", "for": "Marcala" }, { "text": "the collective brand \"Honduran Western Coffees\" (HWC)", "for": "HWC" }, { "text": "falling from 385,000 bags in MY 2023/24 to 335,000 bags", "for": "domestic consumption" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "USDA FAS post report, Tegucigalpa; Honduras marketing years 2023/24–2025/26; Table 1 from IHCAFE 2023/24", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s6", "title": "Informe Estadístico 2020–2021", "authors": "Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE)", "year": 2022, "publisher": "Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE)", "url": "https://www.ihcafe.hn/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Resumen-Informe-2020-2021.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Summary of the institute’s statistics report for the 2020–2021 harvest (A for statistics). Production is given as ‘quintales’ without a stated form; small producers are defined as producing under 50 quintales oro (green coffee). Exports in 46-kg bags; the grade table gives bags, value, average price and share for SHG, HG, SL and COR (the shares match the bag volumes). Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "la época de recolección que está comprendida entre los meses de octubre a Marzo dependiendo de la condiciones de altura en que se encuentran las fincas.", "quotes": [ { "text": "más de 120,000 familias productoras de café", "for": "families" }, { "text": "el 95% son calificadas como pequeños productores (con producción menor a 50 quintales/oro)", "for": "small producers" }, { "text": "15 de los 18 departamentos y en 221 de los 298 municipios", "for": "departments and municipalities" }, { "text": "una producción superior a 7.9 millones de quintales", "for": "production 2020–21" }, { "text": "genera un estimado superior a 1.1 millones de empleos", "for": "employment" }, { "text": "fueron por el orden de US$1,165,435,576.60", "for": "export value 2020–21" }, { "text": "Europa importó el 57% del café", "for": "Europe" }, { "text": "SHG 4,586,842.33 742,190,551.95 161.81 59.88%", "for": "grades" }, { "text": "78 fueron las Empresas Exportadoras de Café que operaron en Honduras durante la cosecha 2020-2021.", "for": "exporters" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "IHCAFE statistics, Honduras, harvest 2020–2021", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s7", "title": "Informe de Resultados Generales del Censo Agropecuario Nacional CAN 2024 (datos preliminares)", "authors": "Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), Honduras", "year": 2026, "publisher": "INE, Tegucigalpa", "url": "https://ine.gob.hn/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Informe-resultados-preliminares-CAN-2024-1.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "National statistics office; preliminary results, no publication date printed (file uploaded January 2026). Table 6 gives planted, ‘plantillo’ (young plantings) and production area (ha), production (TM) and yield for 17 permanent crops; the agricultural year runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. No note states whether coffee production is green, parchment or cherry. The document gives no coffee producers, no coffee by department and no farm-size table; it does not rank coffee by area in its text (coffee has the largest planted area in Table 6, our reading). Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Café 440,217.3 32,537.3 407,680.0 290,443.6 0.7", "quotes": [ { "text": "Año Agrícola: está comprendido entre el 01 de abril de 2023 al 31 de marzo de 2024.", "for": "reference period" }, { "text": "palma de aceite y el café, los cuales aportaron el 4.5% y el 4.2% del total producido.", "for": "share of permanent-crop output" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "Honduras, national agricultural census 2024, preliminary; coffee area and production, agricultural year 2023/24", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s8", "title": "Comportamiento de las exportaciones e importaciones del café en Honduras 2021 – 2025", "authors": "Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), Gerencia de Estadísticas Económicas", "year": 2026, "publisher": "INE, Tegucigalpa; data from the Banco Central de Honduras (SICE)", "url": "https://ine.gob.hn/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Boletin-Comportamiento-de-las-Exportaciones-e-Importaciones-del-cafe-2021-2025.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Statistical bulletin of the national statistics office with data from the central bank’s foreign trade system; calendar years, FOB values in USD million, volumes in 46-kg bags (rounded to 0.1 million in the source). No publication date printed (file uploaded March 2026); no preliminary marks. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Para 2025, las exportaciones de café de Honduras registraron un valor de USD 2,329.1", "quotes": [ { "text": "acumulando un total de 6.5 millones sacos en 2025.", "for": "volume 2025" }, { "text": "al concentrar el 30.04 % de las exportaciones totales", "for": "United States share" }, { "text": "con información del Sistema Integrado de Comercio Exterior (SICE) del Banco Central de Honduras (BCH)", "for": "data source" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "Honduras, coffee exports and imports, calendar years 2021–2025 (BCH data)", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s9", "title": "Memoria IHCAFE cosecha 2021-2022", "authors": "Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE)", "year": 2024, "publisher": "IHCAFE, Tegucigalpa", "url": "https://www.ihcafe.hn/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/MEMORIA-IHCAFE-COSECHA-21-22.pdf", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "Annual report of the institute (file uploaded November 2024). A for its statistics and its own facilities; B for anything else. The production table by department is scrambled in the extracted text and is not used; the regional offices’ manzanas are areas intervened under the renewal programme, not coffee area, and are not used. The table of research centres is jumbled, so its altitudes are not used (source 10 gives them). Size classes are not defined. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "La caficultura hondureña está en manos de pequeños productores (92%), medianos (7%) y grandes (1%)", "quotes": [ { "text": "El Instituto Hondureño del Café cuenta con seis Centros de Investigación y Capacitación", "for": "research centres" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "IHCAFE annual report, harvest 2021–2022", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s10", "title": "Investigación y Desarrollo", "authors": "Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE)", "year": 2026, "publisher": "IHCAFE (web page)", "url": "https://ihcafe.hn/investigacion-y-desarrollo/", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "The institute’s page on its research centres (no date). A for the locations and altitudes of its own centres and its list of commercial varieties; B for anything else. The altitudes differ slightly from the jumbled table of source 9 (e.g. 1,110 m against 1,150 m for CIC-JVE). No altitude is given for the El Paraíso centre. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "en La Fe Ilama, Santa Bárbara a 750 msnm.", "quotes": [ { "text": "En Los Linderos, San Nicolás Santa Bárbara a 1110 msnm", "for": "CIC-JVE" }, { "text": "En Corquin Copan a 960 msnm", "for": "CIC-JAS" }, { "text": "En Campamento Olancho a 750 msnm", "for": "CIC-CAB" }, { "text": "En San José, La Paz a 1440 msnm", "for": "Las Lagunas" }, { "text": "Las variedades comerciales con se cuenta son: Lempira, Parainema, Ihcafe-90, Catuaí, Pacas, Pacamara, IHCATU.", "for": "commercial varieties" }, { "text": "pero en Honduras solamente se tiene identificadas dos razas (1 y II).", "for": "rust races" } ], "scope": { "claim": "description", "context": "IHCAFE research and training centres; commercial varieties; rust race study begun August 2016", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s11", "title": "Regiones cafetaleras", "authors": "Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE)", "year": 2026, "publisher": "IHCAFE (web page)", "url": "https://ihcafe.hn/regiones-cafetaleras/", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "The institute’s page on coffee regions (no date). The six regions are shown only in a graphic that could not be read; the text gives national counts only. B for the jobs and GDP statement. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "proviene de regiones montañosas de 210 de los 298 municipios y 15 de los 18 departamentos del país", "quotes": [ { "text": "La producción de café es una forma de vida para mas de 100,000 familias", "for": "families" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "IHCAFE, national counts of municipalities, departments and families (no year)", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s12", "title": "Decreto No. 213-2000 (reforma de la Ley Orgánica del Instituto Hondureño del Café)", "authors": "Congreso Nacional de Honduras", "year": 2000, "publisher": "La Gaceta, Diario Oficial de la República de Honduras, No. 29,360, 22 December 2000 (copy in FAOLEX)", "url": "https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/hon24019.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Official gazette. The decree, passed on 1 November 2000, reforms and repeals articles of Decree No. 83 of 9 December 1970, the institute’s organic law. Article 1 as reformed defines IHCAFE as a private, non-state body of public interest. The text layer is an OCR scan with many errors (the quote reproduces it as read); read through a summarising fetch. The 1970 decree itself was not consulted.", "quote": "del Decreto No. 83 de! 9 de diciembre de 1970", "quotes": [ { "text": "organismo privado, no estatal", "for": "legal nature" } ], "scope": { "claim": "definition", "context": "Honduras, reform of IHCAFE’s organic law, 2000; refers to Decree No. 83 of 9 December 1970", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s13", "title": "Decreto ejecutivo de emergencia fitosanitaria nacional por la roya del café (Hemileia vastatrix)", "authors": "Presidencia de la República de Honduras", "year": 2013, "publisher": "La Gaceta, Diario Oficial de la República de Honduras, No. 33,050, 13 February 2013 (copy in FAOLEX)", "url": "https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/hon123550.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Executive decree issued at Casa Presidencial on 24 January 2013 and published on 13 February 2013; the decree number is not legible in the text layer. Article 1 declares the emergency and names IHCAFE, the agriculture ministry (SAG) through SENASA, and OIRSA to coordinate control. The recitals give 400,000 manzanas, more than 110,000 families and an exportable harvest of 7.2 million quintales with USD 1,440 million of exports in the 2011–2012 harvest, and cite an IHCAFE study of 2012 that found 25% of the coffee area affected and losses of up to 25%. OCR text; read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "el 25% del total del parque cafetalero del pals ha sido afectado por esta enfermedad.", "quotes": [ { "text": "con un area cultivada de 400,000 manzanas", "for": "area" }, { "text": "de las que se benefician mas de 110,000 familias", "for": "families" } ], "scope": { "claim": "definition", "context": "Honduras, national phytosanitary emergency for coffee leaf rust, January/February 2013", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s14", "title": "Report on the outbreak of coffee leaf rust in Central America and Action Plan to combat the pest (ED 2157/13)", "authors": "International Coffee Organization", "year": 2013, "publisher": "International Coffee Organization, London", "url": "https://www.ico.org/documents/cy2012-13/ed-2157e-report-clr.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "ICO document of 13 May 2013 (A for statistics). Table 1 gives figures from PROMECAFÉ for crop year 2012/13. Its column headers are out of order in the text layer; the assignment of the Honduras values (280,000 ha total, 70,000 ha affected, 1,000,000 workforce, 100,000 job losses, USD 230.0 million and 1,303,333 bags of 60 kg lost) is our reading, consistent with the column totals and with the 25% incidence in paragraph 8. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "The incidence rates are as follows: El Salvador 74%, Guatemala 70%, Costa Rica 64%, Nicaragua 37% and Honduras 25%.", "quotes": [ { "text": "Table 1 contains a summary of the effect of coffee leaf rust for crop year 2012/13, according to figures from PROMECAFÉ.", "for": "table source" }, { "text": "Honduras 280 000 70 000 1 000 000 100 000 230.0 1 303 333", "for": "Honduras row" }, { "text": "He also visited farms affected by rust in the coffee area of Marcala, La Paz, in order to verify the situation onsite,", "for": "Marcala, La Paz" } ], "scope": { "claim": "data", "context": "Coffee leaf rust in PROMECAFÉ countries, crop year 2012/13", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s15", "title": "The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions", "authors": "Avelino, J.; Cristancho, M.; Georgiou, S.; Imbach, P.; Aguilar, L.; Bornemann, G.; Läderach, P.; Anzueto, F.; Hruska, A. J.; Morales, C.; et al.", "year": 2015, "publisher": "Food Security 7, 303–321", "url": "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-015-0446-9", "doi": "10.1007/s12571-015-0446-9", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Peer-reviewed review. The Honduran smallholder share (94%, smallholders with less than 7 ha; the passage does not say whether farms or producers are counted) is cited from PROMECAFE. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "In Honduras, IHCAFE (Instituto Hondureño del Café) used its trust fund to provide credits", "quotes": [ { "text": "94 % in Honduras, according to the information provided by PROMECAFE", "for": "smallholdings" }, { "text": "A state of emergency was declared in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala", "for": "emergency" }, { "text": "Ihcafe 90 and Lempira (Honduras)", "for": "resistant cultivars" } ], "scope": { "claim": "finding", "context": "Review of the 2008–2013 rust epidemics in Colombia and Central America", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s16", "title": "Lempira", "authors": "World Coffee Research", "publisher": "World Coffee Research, Arabica Coffee Varieties catalogue", "url": "https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/lempira", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Catalogue data (A). No release year given. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Lempira has been confirmed through scientific evaluation to be susceptible to coffee leaf rust in Honduras", "quotes": [ { "text": "Timor Hybrid 832/1 x Caturra", "for": "lineage" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s17", "title": "IHCAFE 90", "authors": "World Coffee Research", "publisher": "World Coffee Research, Arabica Coffee Varieties catalogue", "url": "https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/ihcafe-90", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "A for lineage, breeder and the susceptibility statement as catalogued; B for the history narrative. No release year given. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "A cross between Timor Hybrid 832/1 and Caturra. Pedigree selection made by Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE).", "quotes": [ { "text": "has been confirmed through scientific evaluation to be susceptible to coffee leaf rust in Honduras", "for": "susceptibility" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s18", "title": "Parainema", "authors": "World Coffee Research", "publisher": "World Coffee Research, Arabica Coffee Varieties catalogue", "url": "https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/parainema", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "A for lineage, breeder, release year and the agronomic ratings as catalogued (leaf rust ‘Highly resistant’, yield potential ‘Very High’); B for the history narrative. The page notes that local performance may vary with the rust races present. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Pedigree selection of T5296, made by Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE); released in 2004.", "quotes": [ { "text": "A variety's local performance may vary based on which races of rust are present in the environment.", "for": "rust races" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s19", "title": "Acuerdo CONACAFE S.O. No. 136/2015: Reglamento para la Comercialización de Café", "authors": "Consejo Nacional del Café (CONACAFE), Honduras", "year": 2015, "publisher": "CONACAFE, Tegucigalpa; copy hosted by IHCAFE", "url": "https://www.ihcafe.hn/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Reglamento-de-Comercializacion-de-cafe-1.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Statutory regulation approved on 14 October 2015. Article 3 defines terms: High Grown (30) and Strictly High Grown (31) by bean colour and cup character, Central Standard by the same kind of description; none gives an altitude. Definition 53 sets the bag at 46 kg of green coffee (articles 10 and 12 also use a 69-kg bag). Green washed coffee (definition 20) and natural green coffee (definition 22, ‘café oro corriente o natural’) are defined at 12% moisture (basis not stated), as is dried parchment (definition 18). No publication date in La Gaceta is given. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Café de estricta altura (Strictly High Grown): Grano generalmente de color verde azulado", "quotes": [ { "text": "Medida equivalente a cuarenta y seis (46) kilogramos de café verde.", "for": "bag" }, { "text": "tiene un doce por ciento (12%) de humedad", "for": "moisture of washed green coffee" } ], "scope": { "claim": "definition", "context": "Honduras, coffee marketing regulation 2015, definitions of grades, bag and moisture", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s20", "title": "Café de Marcala – Honduras’ GI Approach to Achieving Reputation in the Coffee Market", "authors": "Teuber, R.", "year": 2009, "publisher": "Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy 10(1), 131–148", "url": "https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/48798/files/teuber10-1.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Journal article (the article itself does not state the review process). Its auction data are Honduran Cup of Excellence results 2004–2007 (119 coffees). The article states that Honduras had identified five coffee regions (Agalta Tropical, Azul Meambar, Copán, Montecillos-Marcala and Opalaca); that passage cites no source. The article names no registering office for the denomination. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Café de Marcala has been registered since November 2005", "quotes": [ { "text": "coffees from Marcala achieve on average a higher price than coffees from other Honduran coffee-growing regions.", "for": "auction finding" }, { "text": "However, the hypothesis that Marcala coffees can also achieve a higher price due to an already established reputation", "for": "reputation" }, { "text": "identified five different coffee-growing regions, each producing coffee with a distinct flavour profile.", "for": "five regions" } ], "scope": { "claim": "finding", "context": "Hedonic price analysis of Honduran Cup of Excellence auction lots, 2004–2007", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s21", "title": "Decisión No 5/2014 del Consejo de Asociación UE-Centroamérica, de 7 de noviembre de 2014, sobre las indicaciones geográficas que deben incluirse en el anexo XVIII del Acuerdo [2015/1219]", "authors": "EU–Central America Association Council", "year": 2015, "publisher": "Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea L 196/59, 24 July 2015 (copy on boe.es)", "url": "https://www.boe.es/doue/2015/196/L00059-00066.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Decision of the Association Council, done at San José, Costa Rica, on 7 November 2014; it enters into force 90 days after the Secretariat receives it signed by all Parties (no date of entry into force in the text). Part B lists Central American geographical indications protected in the EU, including two Honduran coffees. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "HONDURAS Café de Marcala Café", "quotes": [ { "text": "HONDURAS Cafés del occidente hondureño (H W C) Café", "for": "HWC" } ], "scope": { "claim": "definition", "context": "EU–Central America Association Agreement, Annex XVIII, Part B", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s22", "title": "Cafés del Occidente Hondureño (H W C)", "authors": "UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs", "year": 2021, "publisher": "GOV.UK, protected food and drink names register", "url": "https://www.gov.uk/protected-food-drink-names/cafes-del-occidente-hondureno-h-w-c", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "UK register entry: protected geographical indication, registered 31 December 2020 under the UK scheme, published 4 January 2021; no specification document is linked and no area or altitude is given. A UK entry for Café de Marcala was not found. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Protected under the UK-Central America association agreement", "quotes": [], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s23", "title": "Honduras – Cup of Excellence auction results, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2023 and 2025", "authors": "Alliance for Coffee Excellence", "year": 2025, "publisher": "Alliance for Coffee Excellence", "url": "https://allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/honduras-2025/", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "The organiser’s published results (A for its own results). For this entry only the 2025 page was read again: auction 3 July 2025; three categories (Honduras Traditional Varieties, Parainema Variety, Exotic Varieties); 30 lots, 33 entries with split lots; the ‘Region’ column names departments. The count of entries by region is our count (one entry reads ‘Santa Bárbar’, counted as Santa Bárbara).", "quote": "Honduras Traditional Varieties", "quotes": [ { "text": "Parainema Variety", "for": "Parainema category" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s24", "title": "The 6 Regions of Honduran Coffee Give You 6 Reasons to Love it", "authors": "Honduras Presidency", "year": 2016, "publisher": "Cision PR Newswire, Tegucigalpa, 25 October 2016", "url": "https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-6-regions-of-honduran-coffee-give-you-6-reasons-to-love-it-300350941.html", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "Release issued by the Presidency (a state institution) for International Coffee Day. A for the region names and the altitude ranges it states; B otherwise. Its flavour descriptions and export rankings are promotional and not used. It names no departments for the regions and gives no altitude for Comayagua. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "with altitudes reaching 1200-1600 meters", "quotes": [ { "text": "altitudes of 1000-1500 meters", "for": "Copán" }, { "text": "reaching 1100-1600 meters", "for": "Opalaca" }, { "text": "with altitudes of 1100-1400 meters", "for": "Agalta" }, { "text": "reaching only 1100-1400 meters of altitude", "for": "El Paraíso" }, { "text": "is harvested in December to March", "for": "Comayagua harvest" }, { "text": "only harvested from December to March", "for": "Agalta harvest" } ], "scope": { "claim": "description", "context": "Presidency of Honduras, six coffee regions with altitude ranges, October 2016", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s25", "title": "Projected Shifts in Coffea arabica Suitability among Major Global Producing Regions Due to Climate Change", "authors": "Ovalle-Rivera, O.; Läderach, P.; Bunn, C.; Obersteiner, M.; Schroth, G.", "year": 2015, "publisher": "PLoS ONE 10(4), e0124155", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC4397088", "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0124155", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Peer-reviewed. Read on the PLOS page (Europe PMC could not be accessed) through a summarising fetch. Results for Mesoamerica as a region; Honduras is named among the countries gaining suitability at 1,500–2,500 m. Its row in Table 4 is an image and could not be read.", "quote": "Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica would gain suitability at elevations 1500–2500 masl", "quotes": [ { "text": "Higher temperatures would move the climates suitable for Arabica coffee from the current 400–2000 masl to 800–2500 masl.", "for": "Mesoamerica shift" }, { "text": "Mesoamerica would be the most affected region, specifically Nicaragua and El Salvador.", "for": "most affected" } ], "scope": { "claim": "finding", "context": "Global suitability model, 2050s; Mesoamerica section, Honduras named", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s26", "title": "Coffee C® Futures: contract specifications", "year": 2026, "publisher": "ICE Futures U.S.", "url": "https://www.ice.com/api/productguide/spec/15/pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Exchange product specification; read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Coffees judged better are at a premium; those judged inferior are at a discount.", "quotes": [ { "text": "Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Panama, Tanzania, Uganda, Honduras and Peru at par.", "for": "Honduras at par" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s27", "title": "Honduras: A Country Study (Traditional crops; Growth and structure of the economy)", "authors": "Merrill, T. (ed.), Federal Research Division, Library of Congress", "year": 1995, "publisher": "GPO for the Library of Congress, Washington; text as reproduced at countrystudies.us", "url": "http://countrystudies.us/honduras/69.htm", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "US government country study (data to about 1992–1993); read on a third-party reproduction of the Library of Congress text (page 69; page 62 is source 30), through a summarising fetch. Used for coffee’s place behind bananas, the 55,000 producers and the 1992 sales of bananas and coffee.", "quote": "which is grown by about 55,000 mostly small producers.", "quotes": [ { "text": "and then to a lesser extent by coffee and sugar.", "for": "coffee behind bananas" }, { "text": "Total banana sales that year were US$287 million, and total coffee sales amounted to US$148 million.", "for": "1992 sales" } ], "scope": { "claim": "description", "context": "Library of Congress country study of Honduras, 1995; agriculture and economy chapters", "checked": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s28", "title": "Speech by H.E. Ms Laura Suazo, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras, opening ceremony of the 140th Session of the International Coffee Council (ICC 140-5)", "authors": "Suazo, L. (Secretaría de Agricultura y Ganadería, Honduras)", "year": 2025, "publisher": "International Coffee Organization", "url": "https://ico.org/documents/cy2024-25/icc-140-5e-speech-minister-suazo.pdf", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Statement of the agriculture ministry (SAG) at the 140th session of the International Coffee Council, San Pedro Sula, 13–17 October 2025; document dated 29 October 2025. A for the ministry’s own statements and the session; its figures carry no year. Read through a summarising fetch.", "quote": "Every year in Honduras, more than 120,000 families devote themselves to coffee production on small plots of land.", "quotes": [], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s29", "title": "Fairtrade Living Income Reference Price for Coffee from Honduras (explanatory note)", "authors": "Fairtrade International", "year": 2022, "publisher": "Fairtrade International (listed as 2022)", "url": "https://www.fairtrade.net/content/dam/fairtrade/global/why-we-do-it/living-income/living-income-reference-prices/Fairtrade-Living-Income-Reference-Price-Honduras-coffee-explanatory-note.pdf", "tier": "A/B", "tierNote": "A for the reference price and the parameters Fairtrade sets; the benchmark is provisional, from a comparison of earlier estimates (B)", "quote": "is established at 94 Lempira (US$ 3.89) per kilo of dried parchment at farmgate", "quotes": [ { "text": "Based on the previously agreed viable farm size of 3 hectares", "for": "viable farm size" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z" }, { "id": "s30", "title": "Honduras: A Country Study (Growth and structure of the economy)", "authors": "Merrill, T. (ed.), Federal Research Division, Library of Congress", "year": 1995, "publisher": "GPO for the Library of Congress, Washington; text as reproduced at countrystudies.us", "url": "http://countrystudies.us/honduras/62.htm", "tier": "A", "tierNote": "Same US government country study as source 27 (data to about 1992–1993), page 62, on a third-party reproduction of the Library of Congress text. Used for the mid-1970s change in export earnings and the banana boom of the 1990s. Split from source 27 on 4 Nov 2026 so that the quote checker reads the right page.", "quote": "surpassed bananas in the mid1970s as Honduras's leading export income earner", "quotes": [ { "text": "In the 1990s, bananas were booming again", "for": "bananas in the 1990s" } ], "accessed": "2026-11-04T00:00:00.000Z" } ], "markdown": "## Snapshot\n\nHonduras grows only arabica (*C. arabica*) in the tables of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).1 USDA puts the 2025/26 crop at 5.53 million bags of 60 kg.1 That is 3.09% of the world total of 178.8 million bags (our calculation).1 For 2026/27, USDA forecasts 6.03 million bags, nearly all of the growth in Central America and Mexico.1\n\nIn the statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Honduras produced 324,015 t of green coffee in 2024.3 That ranks tenth among 78 countries and is 2.91% of their total (our calculation); the ninth, the Central African Republic, is 908 t ahead with a figure FAO marks as imputed.3 Its national average yield was 1,215 kg/ha in 2024.4\n\nCoffee is the permanent crop with the largest planted area in the 2024 agricultural census: 440,217 ha (our reading of the table).7 Most producers registered with the national coffee institute are smallholders.5,6\n\n## Where coffee grows\n\nCoffee grows in 15 of Honduras’s 18 departments, according to the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE).6,11 USDA groups production into six regions: Copán, Montecillos, Opalaca, Comayagua, El Paraíso and Agalta.5 It places these regions at 1,000–1,600 m.5 In the same report, 61% of farms lie at about 1,189–1,585 m (source: 3,900–5,200 ft; our conversion).5\n\n
\n
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Interactive relief map of Honduras. Layers: the six coffee regions with the altitude ranges the Presidency gave in 2016 (listed, since no source names their departments), Café de Marcala and IHCAFE’s research centres (positions approximate); departments with forecast leaf rust incidence for 2024/25; and departments by 2025 Cup of Excellence lot entries. No official production table by department could be accessed.5,24,23,20,21,10
\n
\n\n**Regions.** A 2016 release of the Presidency gives altitude ranges for five of the six regions.24 Copán lies at 1,000–1,500 m, Opalaca at 1,100–1,600 m and Montecillos at 1,200–1,600 m.24 Agalta and El Paraíso reach 1,100–1,400 m.24 The release gives no range for Comayagua and names no departments for any region.24\n\n**Departments.** No official table of production by department could be accessed for this entry. The sources consulted name departments only in other contexts. For example, USDA’s rust outlook for 2024/25 names Intibucá, Santa Bárbara, Comayagua, Yoro, Cortés, Colón, Francisco Morazán and Lempira.5\n\n
\n
\n
Section from the lowlands at San Pedro Sula over the Santa Bárbara mountains, past Lake Yojoa and Siguatepeque, to San José and Marcala in La Paz. Shaded: 1,000–1,600 m, where USDA places the coffee regions; darker: about 1,189–1,585 m, where it places 61% of farms. Marks: IHCAFE research centres at La Fe (750 m), Los Linderos (1,110 m) and Las Lagunas (1,440 m). Dashed: 1,500 m, above which a 2015 model finds Honduras gaining suitability by the 2050s. M: the Montecillos region, 1,200–1,600 m.5,10,25,24
\n
\n\n## Climate and harvest\n\nThe harvest runs from October to March, depending on the altitude of the farm, according to IHCAFE.6 The Presidency’s 2016 release dates the harvest in Comayagua and Agalta to December–March.24 Harvest calendars compares these months with other origins.\n\n**The coffee year.** USDA uses an October–September marketing year for Honduras.1 IHCAFE’s statistics also count by harvest (cosecha), such as 2020–2021.6 Crop year and coffee year explains the different calendars.\n\n## Farms and people\n\nIn IHCAFE’s table for 2023/24, 92,421 producers were registered with the institute (our sum).5 Of these, 87,136 were small, 4,746 medium and 539 large.5 IHCAFE’s 2020–21 report counts more than 120,000 producing families, and so did the agriculture minister in 2025.6,28 These are different counts (see Contested).\n\n**Who grows the coffee.** Small producers were 94.3% of those registered, but harvested 68.9% of the area and produced 53.8% of the coffee (our calculation).5 IHCAFE defines small producers as those producing under 50 quintales of green coffee.6\n\n
\n
\n
Small producers’ share of registered producers, harvested area and production in 2023/24, from IHCAFE’s table by farm size as reproduced by USDA. Shares are our calculation from the rows.5
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\n\n**Jobs.** IHCAFE estimates that the sector generates more than 1.1 million jobs.6 Living income gives Fairtrade’s reference price for organic Honduran coffee.29\n\n## Varieties\n\nUSDA’s tables list only arabica for Honduras.1 IHCAFE lists its commercial varieties as Lempira, Parainema, IHCAFE 90, Catuaí, Pacas, Pacamara and IHCATU.10 No variety census was consulted, so the share of each variety is not known.\n\n**Bred in Honduras.** Lempira and IHCAFE 90 are Catimors, crosses of Timor Hybrid 832/1 with Caturra selected by IHCAFE.16,17 A 2015 review lists both among the locally selected cultivars with rust resistance developed in the region.15 World Coffee Research records both as confirmed susceptible to leaf rust in Honduras.16,17 Parainema is a selection of the Sarchimor line T5296, released by IHCAFE in 2004.18 The Timor Hybrid explains these lines.\n\n## Processing\n\nThe national marketing regulation defines both washed and natural green coffee, each at 12% moisture (basis not stated).19 No source consulted for this entry gives the share of Honduran coffee processed washed, natural or honey. Washed process and drying describe the steps.\n\n**Grades.** Exporters sell grades such as Strictly High Grown (SHG) and High Grown (HG).6 The regulation defines these grades by bean colour and cup character, not by altitude.19 In 2020–21, SHG was 59.88% of the export volume and HG 30.26%.6\n\n## History\n\n**Arrival.** No primary record of coffee’s arrival in Honduras was consulted for this entry.\n\n**Second to bananas.** In the 20th century, bananas dominated Honduran agriculture, followed to a lesser extent by coffee and sugar, according to the Library of Congress.27 Coffee surpassed bananas as the leading export earner in the mid-1970s, for a time: bananas were booming again in the 1990s.30 In 1992, banana sales were USD 287 million and coffee sales USD 148 million.27 Unlike bananas, coffee was grown by about 55,000 mostly small producers.27\n\n**The institute.** IHCAFE’s organic law is Decree No. 83 of 9 December 1970.12 A reform in 2000 defines the institute as a private, non-state body of public interest.12\n\n**Growth.** In FAO statistics, production rose from 21,450 t in 1961 to 119,784 t in 1990.2 It passed 343,000 t in 2012 and peaked at 478,831 t in 2018.2\n\n**Leaf rust.** In January 2013 the government declared a national phytosanitary emergency over leaf rust.13 The decree cites an IHCAFE study that found 25% of the coffee area affected in 2012.13\n\n## Trade and institutions\n\n**Exports.** In calendar year 2025, Honduras exported coffee worth USD 2,329.1 million FOB, 6.5 million bags of 46 kg.8 The United States took 30.04%, Germany 19.81% and Belgium 10.98%.8 USDA estimates exports of 5.03 million bags of 60 kg for 2025/26.1\n\n**IHCAFE.** The institute keeps the statistics, registers producers and runs six research and training centres.5,9 The marketing regulation is issued by the National Coffee Council (CONACAFE).19\n\n**Geographical indications.** Café de Marcala has been registered since November 2005, the first denomination of origin in Honduras.20,5 A collective brand, Honduran Western Coffees (HWC), followed.5 Both names are protected in the EU under its association agreement with Central America.21 The United Kingdom registered Cafés del Occidente Hondureño on 31 December 2020.22\n\n**Competitions.** Honduras joined the Cup of Excellence in 2004.5 Auctions and competitions follows its prices since 2005.23\n\n**On the futures market.** Honduran coffee is deliverable against New York’s Coffee “C” contract at par.26 Differentials explains these premiums and discounts.\n\n\n\n## Production over time\n\nThe FAO series runs from 1961. Production rose from 21,450 t in 1961 to 100,234 t in 1989.2 It rose by 72% between 1990 (119,784 t) and 2001 (205,545 t) (our calculation).2 After 343,403 t in 2012 it fell by 18.3% to 280,697 t in 2013, the leaf rust year (our calculation).2 It peaked at 477,580 t in 2017 and 478,831 t in 2018, and has varied between 324,015 t and 417,591 t since 2020.2\n\n
\n
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Green coffee production of Honduras, 1961–2024, in thousand tonnes, from FAO statistics by calendar year. The fall from 2012 to 2013 follows the leaf rust epidemic; the peak was 478,831 t in 2018.2
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\n\n| Year | t | Year | t | Year | t | Year | t |\n|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n| 1961 | 21,4502 | 1977 | 49,7572 | 1993 | 110,4812 | 2009 | 231,2882 |\n| 1962 | 27,9392 | 1978 | 59,7962 | 1994 | 126,1822 | 2010 | 244,3352 |\n| 1963 | 29,0142 | 1979 | 72,5472 | 1995 | 132,4002 | 2011 | 284,3472 |\n| 1964 | 29,2762 | 1980 | 64,2282 | 1996 | 148,8302 | 2012 | 343,4032 |\n| 1965 | 32,1952 | 1981 | 75,3472 | 1997 | 162,6582 | 2013 | 280,6972 |\n| 1966 | 33,5692 | 1982 | 72,4202 | 1998 | 172,7722 | 2014 | 282,2302 |\n| 1967 | 35,0412 | 1983 | 79,4742 | 1999 | 157,4092 | 2015 | 332,7472 |\n| 1968 | 36,5122 | 1984 | 72,5452 | 2000 | 193,3092 | 2016 | 366,5422 |\n| 1969 | 37,9842 | 1985 | 75,0912 | 2001 | 205,5452 | 2017 | 477,5802 |\n| 1970 | 39,4562 | 1986 | 76,3182 | 2002 | 172,7272 | 2018 | 478,8312 |\n| 1971 | 40,9272 | 1987 | 79,8772 | 2003 | 175,2842 | 2019 | 472,4982 |\n| 1972 | 42,3992 | 1988 | 94,0462 | 2004 | 185,0902 | 2020 | 364,5522 |\n| 1973 | 41,7782 | 1989 | 100,2342 | 2005 | 190,6402 | 2021 | 417,5912 |\n| 1974 | 45,3422 | 1990 | 119,7842 | 2006 | 213,6362 | 2022 | 330,1112 |\n| 1975 | 46,8142 | 1991 | 101,8902 | 2007 | 236,3022 | 2023 | 384,3612 |\n| 1976 | 48,2852 | 1992 | 111,6602 | 2008 | 240,9482 | 2024 | 324,0152 |\n\nValues from 2018 are rounded to whole tonnes. The values for 1966–1972 rise by almost the same amount each year (our reading); the series does not say whether they are estimates.2\n\n**Yield.** FAO’s average yield was 1,215 kg/ha in 2024.4 It was 277 kg/ha in 1961 and reached its highest value, 1,232 kg/ha, in 2015.4 Coffee yields compares origins.\n\n**The 2024 census.** The national agricultural census counts 440,217.3 ha of coffee planted, 32,537.3 ha of young plantings and 407,680.0 ha in production.7 It gives 290,443.6 t of production, 0.7 t/ha, for the agricultural year April 2023 – March 2024.7 Coffee made up 4.2% of the output of permanent crops.7 The census does not state the form of coffee, and its results are preliminary.7\n\n**USDA’s recent series.** In USDA’s tables, production was 4.80 million bags in 2021/22, 5.70 million in 2022/23, 5.05 million in 2023/24, 5.20 million in 2024/25 and 5.53 million in 2025/26.1 Exports were 4.65, 5.31, 4.72, 4.96 and 5.03 million bags in the same years.1 USDA uses an October–September marketing year; FAO uses calendar years.1,3\n\n**IHCAFE’s count.** For the 2020–2021 harvest, IHCAFE reports a production of more than 7.9 million quintales.6 The report does not state the form of coffee for this figure.6\n\n## Farms by size\n\nIHCAFE’s table for 2023/24, reproduced by USDA, is the only official breakdown by farm size consulted.5 It does not define the size classes.5\n\n| Size class | Producers registered with IHCAFE | Area harvested (ha) | Production (60-kg bags) | Bags per ha (our calculation) |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Small | 87,1365 | 193,0925 | 2,502,3865 | 13.0 |\n| Medium | 4,7465 | 62,4945 | 1,400,6135 | 22.4 |\n| Large | 5395 | 24,5115 | 747,3555 | 30.5 |\n| Total (row sum, our calculation) | 92,421 | 280,097 | 4,650,354 | 16.6 |\n\nMedium and large producers harvest more per hectare than small ones (our calculation).5 The table’s production is 8% below USDA’s post estimate of 5.05 million bags for 2023/24 (our calculation).5 IHCAFE’s 2021–22 report puts small producers at 92%, medium at 7% and large at 1%.9 A 2015 review, citing the regional programme PROMECAFÉ, counts 94% of Honduran coffee producers as smallholders with less than 7 ha.15\n\n## Leaf rust, 2012–2013 and after\n\n| Item | Value | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| Emergency decree | Issued 24 January 2013, published in La Gaceta No. 33,050 on 13 February 2013 | La Gaceta13 |\n| Bodies named to coordinate control | IHCAFE; agriculture ministry (SAG) through SENASA; OIRSA | La Gaceta13 |\n| Coffee area affected (IHCAFE study, 2012) | 25% of the coffee area | La Gaceta13 |\n| Losses stated in the decree | Up to 25% (base not stated) | La Gaceta13 |\n| Area affected (2012/13) | 70,000 ha of 280,000 ha; incidence 25% | ICO, PROMECAFÉ figures14 |\n| Losses (2012/13) | 1,303,333 bags of 60 kg; USD 230.0 million | ICO, PROMECAFÉ figures14 |\n| Jobs lost (2012/13) | 100,000 of 1,000,000 | ICO, PROMECAFÉ figures14 |\n| FAO production, 2012 to 2013 | 343,403 t to 280,697 t (−18.3%, our calculation) | FAO2 |\n| Forecast national incidence (to August 2025) | 2.9% | USDA 20255 |\n| Farms with low rust (April 2024 survey) | 76% of farms sampled | USDA 2025, IHCAFE surveys5 |\n\nThe ICO table’s columns are out of order in the text layer of its PDF. Our assignment matches the column totals and the 25% incidence in the report’s text.14 In the emergency, IHCAFE used its trust fund to give producers credit, according to a 2015 review.15\n\n**After the epidemic.** USDA attributes the growth of the planted area forecast for 2025/26 to the introduction of Parainema, a rust-resistant variety.5 According to USDA, IHCAFE’s renewal programme, which USDA calls “Renew without stopping Production”, is to support 33,000 producers covering 250,000 blocks.5 For 2024/25, USDA reports forecast incidences of 5.9% in Intibucá, 4.2% in Santa Bárbara, 4.0% in Comayagua, 3.6% in Yoro, 3.18% in Cortés, 2.9% in Colón, 2.7% in Francisco Morazán and 2.2% in Lempira.5\n\n**Rust races.** IHCAFE began a study of rust races in August 2016.10 It states that only two races, I and II, have been identified in Honduras.10 World Coffee Research records Lempira and IHCAFE 90 as confirmed susceptible in Honduras, and notes that a variety’s local performance may vary with the races present.16,17,18 Coffee leaf rust explains races and resistance.\n\n## Grades and the export bag\n\n| Item | Definition or value | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| Bag (saco) | 46 kg of green coffee | CONACAFE 201519 |\n| Strictly High Grown (SHG) | Defined by bean colour (usually bluish green) and cup character; no altitude | CONACAFE 201519 |\n| High Grown (HG) | Defined by bean colour (usually dark green) and cup character; no altitude | CONACAFE 201519 |\n| Washed green coffee | 12% moisture (basis not stated) | CONACAFE 201519 |\n| Export shares, 2020–21 | SHG 59.88%, HG 30.26%, SL 9.58%, COR 0.28% of volume | IHCAFE6 |\n| Exporters, 2020–21 | 78 companies | IHCAFE6 |\n\nThe sources consulted do not expand the grade labels SL and COR. Grading and sorting compares altitude grades in other Central American countries.\n\n## Exports\n\n| Year | FOB value (USD million) | Volume (million 46-kg bags) |\n|---|---|---|\n| 2021 | 1,243.98 | 7.98 |\n| 2022 | 1,404.98 | 5.98 |\n| 2023 | 1,392.58 | 7.08 |\n| 2024 | 1,218.28 | 6.08 |\n| 2025 | 2,329.18 | 6.58 |\n\nThe national statistics office (INE) compiles these calendar-year figures from the central bank’s foreign trade system.8 The value in 2025 was 1.91 times that of 2024 for 8% more bags (our calculation).8 In 2025, the United States took 30.04%, Germany 19.81%, Belgium 10.98%, Canada 5.42% and Italy 4.73%.8 USDA’s chart for 2024/25 gives similar shares: the United States 29%, Germany 20% and Belgium 11%.5 For the 2020–2021 harvest, IHCAFE reports Europe taking 57% of the coffee.6\n\n**Domestic consumption.** USDA’s post estimates domestic consumption at 335,000 bags of 60 kg in 2024/25, down from 385,000 in 2023/24.5\n\n## Geographical indications\n\n| Item | Café de Marcala | Cafés del Occidente Hondureño (HWC) |\n|---|---|---|\n| Type | Denomination of origin20 | Collective brand (USDA); protected geographical indication in the UK register5,22 |\n| Registration in Honduras | November 200520 | Not stated in the sources consulted |\n| EU protection | Association Council Decision No 5/2014, 7 November 201421 | Association Council Decision No 5/2014, 7 November 201421 |\n| UK protection | Not found in the UK register | Registered 31 December 202022 |\n| Area and altitude | No official specification consulted; the ICO’s 2013 report names the coffee area of Marcala, La Paz14 | No official specification consulted |\n\nIn a 2009 study of Cup of Excellence auctions from 2004 to 2007, coffees from Marcala scored higher on average than coffees from other Honduran regions, and so fetched higher prices.20 The study could not confirm a price premium for Marcala’s reputation itself.20\n\n## Cup of Excellence\n\nHonduras joined the Cup of Excellence in 2004.5 According to USDA, about 1,200 producers enter regional contests before the national selection.5 The 2025 auction, held on 3 July 2025, had three categories, named “Honduras Traditional Varieties”, “Parainema Variety” and “Exotic Varieties”.23 Of its 33 lot entries, 23 came from Santa Bárbara, five from Lempira, two each from El Paraíso and La Paz, and one from Francisco Morazán (our count).23 Auctions and competitions gives the prices of eight Honduran auctions from 2005 to 2025.\n\n## Research\n\nIHCAFE runs six research and training centres.9,5\n\n| Centre | Place | Altitude | Source |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| CIC Jesús Aguilar Paz (CIC-JAP) | La Fe, Ilama, Santa Bárbara | 750 m | IHCAFE10 |\n| CIC José Virgilio Enamorado (CIC-JVE) | Los Linderos, San Nicolás, Santa Bárbara | 1,110 m | IHCAFE10 |\n| CIC José Ángel Saavedra (CIC-JAS) | Corquín, Copán | 960 m | IHCAFE10 |\n| CIC Carlos Alberto Bonilla (CIC-CAB) | Campamento, Olancho | 750 m | IHCAFE10 |\n| CIC Las Lagunas | San José, La Paz | 1,440 m | IHCAFE10 |\n| Centro Fredy Espinoza Mondragón | El Paraíso, El Paraíso | Not stated | IHCAFE10 |\n\nLa Fe is the headquarters of the research and training programmes, according to IHCAFE.10\n\n## Climate risk\n\nA 2015 global model projects that climates suitable for arabica in Mesoamerica move from 400–2,000 m to 800–2,500 m by the 2050s.25 Honduras is among the countries that gain suitable area at 1,500–2,500 m, which may compensate in part for losses lower down.25 These are model projections, not forecasts by Coffearium.\n\nUSDA places the coffee regions at 1,000–1,600 m.5 Most of that band lies below the 1,500 m where the model finds gains (our reading).5,25\n\n## Reference values\n\n| Parameter | Value | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| Production, USDA | 5.53 million 60-kg bags (2025/26); 6.03 million forecast (2026/27) | USDA1 |\n| Production, FAO | 324,015 t (2024); peak 478,831 t (2018) | FAO2,3 |\n| Production, census | 290,443.6 t (2023/24, preliminary; form not stated) | INE7 |\n| Share of world output | 3.09% (2025/26, USDA); 2.91% (2024, FAO); our calculation | USDA1, FAO3 |\n| Coffee area | 440,217.3 ha planted; 407,680.0 ha in production (2023/24) | INE7 |\n| Yield | 1,215 kg/ha (FAO, 2024) | FAO4 |\n| Departments | 15 of 18 | IHCAFE6,11 |\n| Altitude | 1,000–1,600 m; 61% of farms at about 1,189–1,585 m | USDA5 |\n| Harvest | October–March, by altitude | IHCAFE6 |\n| Registered producers | 92,421 (2023/24, our sum); 94.3% small | IHCAFE via USDA5 |\n| Exports | USD 2,329.1 million FOB; 6.5 million 46-kg bags (2025) | INE, BCH data8 |\n| Main destinations | United States 30.04%, Germany 19.81%, Belgium 10.98% (2025) | INE8 |\n| Export bag | 46 kg of green coffee | CONACAFE19 |\n| Leaf rust, 2012/13 | 70,000 ha affected of 280,000 ha | ICO14 |\n| Coffee “C” differential | Par | ICE26 |\n| IHCAFE organic law | Decree No. 83 of 9 December 1970 | La Gaceta12 |\n| Café de Marcala | Registered November 2005; protected in the EU (Decision No 5/2014) | Teuber 200920, EU21 |\n\n## Open questions\n\n- **Production by department.** IHCAFE publishes department tables, but the copies consulted were images or scrambled text, and press summaries of them disagree with themselves.9 No department table is given here.\n- **Size of the crop.** USDA, FAO, the census and IHCAFE give different totals for similar years, and the census does not state the form of coffee (see Contested).1,3,5,7\n- **Regions and departments.** No official list of the departments in each of the six coffee regions was consulted; the Presidency’s 2016 release gives altitudes but no departments.24\n- **Café de Marcala.** Its official specification, registering resolution, area and altitude were not consulted. Presentations by its regulatory council give two different altitude ranges, so none is given here.\n- **Variety shares.** No census of varieties was consulted, so how far Parainema and other resistant lines have replaced Lempira and IHCAFE 90 is not documented here.5,10\n- **Early history.** No primary record of coffee’s arrival or of 19th-century plantings was consulted.\n- **Hurricanes Eta and Iota (2020).** No official figure for their damage to coffee could be accessed.\n\n## Key studies\n\n
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Avelino et al., 2015 – The rust crises in Colombia and Central America. Reviews the 2008–2013 epidemics and their drivers, low profitability and weather. For Honduras it records the state of emergency, IHCAFE’s credit from its trust fund for fungicides, and IHCAFE 90 and Lempira among the locally selected rust-resistant cultivars.

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Food Security 7, 303–321 · doi:10.1007/s12571-015-0446-9

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Teuber, 2009 – Café de Marcala and the value of origin. Analysed 119 Honduran Cup of Excellence lots from 2004 to 2007 with a hedonic price model. Marcala coffees scored higher and so sold higher, but no separate premium for the region’s reputation was found.

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Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy 10(1), 131–148 · AgEcon Search

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Ovalle-Rivera et al., 2015 – Arabica suitability under climate change. Modelled suitability for arabica in the main producing regions by the 2050s. In Mesoamerica the suitable climates move upwards, and Honduras gains suitable land at 1,500–2,500 m while losing it lower down.

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PLoS ONE 10(4), e0124155 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124155

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