Honduras and CATIE Advance a Joint Agenda to Strengthen Agriculture, Coffee Production, and Water Security

• The institutional mission opened new opportunities for collaboration with the Government of Honduras, IICA, and CABEI to promote climate change adaptation, sustainable agriculture, human capacity development, and rural development.

CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) and the Government of Honduras advanced a cooperation agenda aimed at strengthening sustainable agriculture, coffee production, water security, and climate resilience during an institutional mission held from July 7–9. The mission included meetings with government authorities, international organizations, and strategic partners. climate resilience del país, durante una misión institucional realizada del 7 al 9 de julio, que incluyó reuniones con autoridades gubernamentales, organismos internacionales y socios estratégicos.

The mission was led by Dr. Luis Pocasangre, Director General of CATIE, accompanied by institutional specialists, including Dr. Leida Mercado, with the objective of identifying new opportunities for collaboration and following up on initiatives that address some of the most pressing challenges facing Honduras' agricultural sector.

One of the key meetings took place with Mr. Moisés Molina, Honduras' Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, during which opportunities to expand cooperation on strategic priorities for the country were discussed. During the meeting, Dr. Mercado presented a water harvesting project proposal for the Honduran Dry Corridor, an initiative designed to improve water availability and reduce the vulnerability of agricultural production to the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon.

The Minister expressed strong interest in the proposal, committed to presenting it to the President of the Republic to seek funding, and appointed Eng. Nassar, head of the Irrigation Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG), to work jointly with Dr. Mercado on developing the project's technical profile.

The meeting also addressed opportunities to strengthen Honduras' coffee sector through the evaluation of coffee hybrids developed by CATIE, including Centroamericano, Milenio, and Esperanza. These varieties were released through the ESCALAR Project and have demonstrated positive results in the Trifinio Region. Dr. Mercado shared the successful experience of the project with the Minister and other authorities, highlighting it as one of CATIE's most significant technological innovations in recent years.

Government officials also expressed interest in expanding training opportunities for professionals from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock through CATIE Graduate School's master's and doctoral degree programs.

As part of the mission, the delegation met with Dr. Christian Fisher, Representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Honduras, and the team of the Living Forests Project (Bosques Vivos) to explore new areas of collaboration. A factor that strengthens this partnership is that the project's coordinator, M.Sc. José González, is a CATIE graduate who reaffirmed his commitment to involving the institution in the implementation of the Living Forests Project.

Among the opportunities identified were CATIE's support for forest fire management—one of Honduras' major annual challenges—through a new Canadian-funded project; watershed management initiatives in the departments of Olancho, Francisco Morazán, Lake Yojoa, and El Paraíso, led by Dr. Laura Benegas, Head of CATIE's Watersheds, Water Security and Soils Unit; greenhouse gas mitigation in resilient production systems; and the application of artificial intelligence to strengthen sustainable livestock production.

The mission also included a meeting with Mr. Francisco Ordoñez, Honduras' Vice Minister of Coffee, who expressed interest in learning first-hand about CATIE's coffee breeding program and advancing the evaluation of coffee hybrids adapted to the conditions of the Honduran Dry Corridor. As part of this collaboration, a technical visit to CATIE was agreed upon, allowing the Vice Ministry to learn about the institution's research programs and the International Coffee Collection, a global reference for coffee conservation and genetic improvement.

The agenda concluded with working meetings at the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and with CATIE's National Office in Honduras. Discussions with CABEI identified opportunities to develop regional initiatives related to water harvesting, tropical livestock systems, biodiversity, carbon markets, and rural entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, meetings with CATIE's Honduras Office focused on reviewing progress in projects such as MAF-Ganadería-HN and REFORES, while also identifying new opportunities for collaboration with national institutions.

The agreements reached during the mission consolidate a joint work agenda that will strengthen cooperation between CATIE and Honduras through initiatives promoting agricultural innovation, climate change adaptation, sustainable natural resource management, and human capacity development. This collaboration will continue generating scientific and technical solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of Honduras' agricultural sector and improve the well-being of rural communities.