The cooperative’s cashew operation is still in its infancy and far from being a stable source of income for the community. They are then dried in the sun briefly again before being soaked in water and baked for three minutes. The shells are dried in the sun for three days before being cracked open by hand or using a special tool. They take about three years to bear cashew apples the nuts, still in their shell, are removed from the ends of the fruits and sold to the cooperative, whose members are then paid to process them. The cooperative, made up mostly of women, saw the potential in cashew trees. The previous year, the WFP had begun to work with vulnerable families, teaching them how to make best use of the land and grow various fruit and vegetables. We weren’t able to take advantage of the few resources we had.” Even if we had potential, we couldn’t fulfil it without knowing how. “Poverty comes accompanied by little money but also a lack of knowledge. “The situation here in 2018 was terrible,” she says. The trees were already present in the area but no one knew how to harness their potential, explains cooperative president Hilda Betancourt. I’ve seen people able to buy their own land and educate their children, who have then gone into professions Almi Martínez, cashew company presidentĪlvarez is one of 38 members of the community cooperative Caja Rural 15 de Enero, formed in 2018, and focusing on cashew trees. You have to look for and give alternatives so that people can provide for, and feed, themselves.”Ĭashew trees don’t need much water they improve the condition of the soil and provide a habitat for flora and fauna the climate is favourable for growing them and the trees provide wood, fruit and seeds – all of which can be sold. “It’s better to have a mixture of crops because people need diversity. It is an approach that the World Food Programme (WFP) is advocating for those experiencing high levels of food insecurity in the region, says Gustavo Tábora, field monitor of the WFP in Choluteca. Native to Honduras, alongside traditional crops such as corn, beans and yuca, cashews could be a way for people in this area to build resilience and adapt to the effects of the climate crisis, he adds. In response, more people in the region are pivoting to cashew trees and harvesting the seeds, explains Manzanares. “Everything floods, or it’s the opposite – it doesn’t rain. “The dry corridor has big problems in terms of being vulnerable to climate change,” says Danilo Manzanares, coordinator of Mesa Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional, a steering group seeking solutions to drought in the south of Honduras. Photograph: Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty ImagesĮl Triunfo lies within the dry corridor – an area of Central America that covers parts of Honduras as well as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Damaged corn in rural Choluteca, where drought, plagues and unpredictable rains caused by climate crisis often affect crops.
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