Weaknesses in the rule of law, and a climate of criminality and violence are not the only drivers pushing Hondurans to join the migrant caravan now headed towards the United States, but they mask an even bigger problem – massive economic inequality.
One in five Hondurans in rural areas lives in extreme poverty, earning less than $1.90 per day. Throughout the country, unemployment is rife – with the root of this problem lying in the decline of coffee farming. Coffee accounts for 10 percent of Honduras’ GDP, but with prices are in freefall and crops decimated by rusts linked to warmer temperatures brought on by climate change, Hondurans are seeing their livelihoods wiped out.
With an estimated 400 million cups of coffee drunk in the U.S. alone every day, coffee companies are seeing their businesses boom. But farmers are not getting a livelihood in the form of fair prices. Since the start of the decade, global coffee prices have fallen 40 percent. In an attempt to protect their profits, the big coffee roasters and sellers are passing the burden of falling prices onto farmers, leaving them caught in a debt spiral and having to borrow money to make it through to harvest. A lack of access to banking services forces farmers to borrow from local money lenders at extortionate rates, pushing them further into debt.
Faced with mounting costs they can’t cover, some farmers are leaving their crops to rot in their fields, as the cost of harvesting is too high. Those that decide to harvest have to cut costs, and they do this by reducing the salaries of the seasonal workers that keep their farms going for three to four months of the year. 1.5 million jobs are created during coffee season. When coffee prices were good, a coffee picker would expect to make $10 a day. But at the moment, workers are being paid only half that – far below the $8.50 a day minimum wage, which is set by the Honduran government’s Labor Ministry.
Faced with such a big drop in their income, many coffee pickers are forced to look for work elsewhere. But with high crime and high unemployment in Honduras’ towns and cities limiting access to paid work, many see leaving as their only option.
Farmers must be able to make a living income from their coffee. If big coffee companies pay farmers a fair price, they can support large numbers of families with decent access to nutritious food, education, public safety and housing in Honduras, and help them to stay in their communities.
One in five Hondurans in rural areas lives in extreme poverty, earning less than $1.90 per day. Throughout the country, unemployment is rife – with the root of this problem lying in the decline of coffee farming. Coffee accounts for 10 percent of Honduras’ GDP, but with prices are in freefall and crops decimated by rusts linked to warmer temperatures brought on by climate change, Hondurans are seeing their livelihoods wiped out.
With an estimated 400 million cups of coffee drunk in the U.S. alone every day, coffee companies are seeing their businesses boom. But farmers are not getting a livelihood in the form of fair prices. Since the start of the decade, global coffee prices have fallen 40 percent. In an attempt to protect their profits, the big coffee roasters and sellers are passing the burden of falling prices onto farmers, leaving them caught in a debt spiral and having to borrow money to make it through to harvest. A lack of access to banking services forces farmers to borrow from local money lenders at extortionate rates, pushing them further into debt.
Faced with mounting costs they can’t cover, some farmers are leaving their crops to rot in their fields, as the cost of harvesting is too high. Those that decide to harvest have to cut costs, and they do this by reducing the salaries of the seasonal workers that keep their farms going for three to four months of the year. 1.5 million jobs are created during coffee season. When coffee prices were good, a coffee picker would expect to make $10 a day. But at the moment, workers are being paid only half that – far below the $8.50 a day minimum wage, which is set by the Honduran government’s Labor Ministry.
Faced with such a big drop in their income, many coffee pickers are forced to look for work elsewhere. But with high crime and high unemployment in Honduras’ towns and cities limiting access to paid work, many see leaving as their only option.
Farmers must be able to make a living income from their coffee. If big coffee companies pay farmers a fair price, they can support large numbers of families with decent access to nutritious food, education, public safety and housing in Honduras, and help them to stay in their communities.
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