THE STORY OF OUR CASHEWS

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. In the western and southern regions 80-95% of the population lives in poverty, many in extreme poverty. According to the UNICEF, about 4 % of Honduran children die before they reach age 5, and about 40 % of the children suffer from moderate to severe malnutrition. The subsistence agriculture of the peasant farmers (campesinos) is not adequate for survival, jobs are scarce, and environmental damage is extensive. Deforestation led to serious soil erosion, with alternating floods and drought making farming difficult. These problems were exacerbated by extensive damage from Hurricane Mitch and a recent prolonged drought.

In the 1970s, cashew trees were introduced into the Choluteca area, one of the poorest regions of Honduras. They have been a valuable addition, both for the nutritious nuts they provide the community and for the reforestation that occurred, stabilizing eroded soil. Since cashew trees grow well in the poor soil and climate of southern Honduras, campesino cooperatives planted thousands of them. However, the income of the campesinos did not improve much by growing raw unshelled cashews for export. Middlemen who arranged to process and export the nuts earned most of the profit. Exploitation of the low-income farmers is common. Local buyers (middlemen) pay very low prices for the cashews, offering an advance purchase of their harvest months before the harvest begins, at a time when the farmers and their families are most desperate for cash to purchase food and other essential goods. In 1981, the farmers received assistance from a U.S. nonprofit organization to develop the local capacity to process and package the cashews. A Honduran nonprofit organization, Asociación Proyectos Del Pueblo (APDP), was formed and organized the cashew cooperatives in Choluteca. Rural, democratically run campesino cooperatives of growers and producers perfected a safe, local processing technique that prepares cashews for export. APDP has now dismantled but the co-op members are in the process of learning how to export their own product to ensure a higher level of self-sufficiency. The co-ops are currently obtaining Fair Trade certification through the Fair Trade Labeling Organization. In conjunction with Trocaire, an Irish development agency, Just Cashews is working to raise money to financially assist in building another processing facility for these cooperatives. This will allow the co-ops to process more of their own product, enabling them to retain more of the total income from the product within their own communities.

  This cooperative arrangement provides desperately needed jobs that pay fair wages. Each cashew nut is hand-picked from organically grown trees, avoiding the pesticides that cause continued health and environment problems in developing countries. The cashews are roasted while still in their hard shell, gently cracked open with a wooden mallet, and then roasted in small brick or adobe ovens. Cashews are packaged immediately to maintain freshness. Some of the co-ops also produce dried cashew fruit using a locally made solar dryer. Isolated communities in desperate need of work and income, process the cashews. Co-op members share the income that is earned, based on the amount of work that each member contributes to the project. APDP worked closely with the individual cooperatives to maintain quality control, trouble-shooting any problems that arise, and arranging prompt shipping for export orders.

Just Cashews has developed a fair trade relationship with the cooperatives that grow the cashews, to ensure that the farmers receive a fair price for their product. In addition to a fair market price, an agreement has also been made with each co-op to pay the farmers an advance payment of 30%-50% of the total that they receive 4 to 6 months before the harvest, so that they can avoid the exploitation of middlemen. Just Cashews has also arranged for organic certification of the co-ops by Bio Latina.

Rural Choluteca is a severely impoverished area plagued by high unemployment, underemployment, environmental degradation, and few opportunities for work. Rates of illiteracy and malnutrition are high. There is hope, however, that a fair trade partnership between impoverished campesino cooperatives and North American consumers, through the efforts of Just Cashews, will improve the standard of living in rural Honduras.