José Mario Rodezno Nuñez, Farm Jimilile

For five years, I lived in the US, where I was able to save some money, which I used to buy a bit of land when I returned to Honduras, in 2005.

So, I’ve been cultivating coffee for around two decades now.

Before me, my parents also grew coffee, but we lived in a remote area when I grew up and it wasn’t easy to sell our beans. This is also why I was never able to attend secondary school. All schools were too far away and there was no money for the bus fare or books anyway. So, my parents also cultivated a variety of fruits and vegetables, to keep our family afloat, and I started working with them when I was still a boy.

This is the main reason why I decided to start my own finca – and my own family ! - in an area that is more accessible. In fact, my wife owns 0,7 hectares, and I own a 1,3 hectare plot nearby, so, together, we have 2 hectares of land to work on.

We also have four adult daughters, who work with us during the harvest. They pick the beans, wash and depulp, and they also dry the lots on our patio when my wife and I are busy on the farm. Honestly, we wouldn’t know what to do without them! It’s hard work, for all of us in our family, but we are proud to make an honest living and we enjoy a lot of freedom because we are our own boss; nobody else gets to decide for us what we have to do, when, or how.

Our aim is to sell as much as possible of our coffees at a premium, because this is the only way to make sure that we can reinvest some of the proceeds in maintaining our land and making improvements. Indeed, we would love to create better circumstances to prepare our coffees, like building a solar dryer, or changing our washing facilities.

But most important of all is our well-being as a family and the harmony that we enjoy together, whether that is while working the land, or at home. We also have some beehives as pollination became increasingly difficult. Thankfully, I’m an avid carpenter so I was able to build my own hives, and we now also enjoy the honey that comes from the bees’ work.

Apart from doing carpentry in my spare time, I love to play soccer. When I was younger, I played in a team and now that I’m no longer part of a club, I still play whenever we can with friends and acquaintances from our village. Regardless of how much I love my work, I also need time to wind down and disconnect for a while. And after each match, I drink a well-deserved cup of my own coffee in the shadow of our patio!

Farm Facts:

This finca is certified organic, fair trade, and RFA.

Size: 2 hectares between wife and husband

Altitude: 1,305 meter

Varietals: Parainema, Lempira, IH-Café90, Obata

Shadow: mostly local trees like Guanijiquil, Pepeto, Guamo, Cipreses. Also fruit trees for personal consumption: mango, orange, tangerine, avocado, a bit of tamarind.