When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico in September 2017, many coffee farmers saw their life’s work disappear overnight. The storm destroyed over 80% of the island’s coffee trees, leaving farmers with little income and the daunting task of rebuilding. Since then, TechnoServe and its partners have teamed up to help restore the island’s coffee industry and support thousands of farmers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for fruit farmers in Mexico as they try to find markets for their produce amidst shutdowns and shifts in consumer behavior. TechnoServe is helping farmers like Eloy Castañón connect to formal buyers and earn better prices for their produce, ensuring resilience during an uncertain time.
In Honduras, TechnoServe is helping coffee farmers like Luis Olvera improve their coffee and join local producer organizations. In doing so, they can connect to better markets and sell their coffee in bulk directly to exporters, gaining better prices and better livelihoods.
In Puerto Rico, TechnoServe is helping coffee farmers like Ricardo Ruiz Castro rebuild after a series of devastating natural disasters. Through the program, coffee farmers learn techniques that will help them significantly increase their yields, improve their incomes, and access better farming supplies, financing, and markets.
TechnoServe is helping farming families in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia restore their income, boost food security, and build resilience to future threats. Learn a few of the ways smallholder farmers have been impacted by COVID-19 and what they are doing to adapt.
As international demand for avocado has increased, more farmers have started to clear forested areas to plant additional avocado trees. In Guatemala, TechnoServe is helping farmers improve their harvests and access higher-value markets while continuing to protect nearby forests.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the potential for a global food crisis. In Honduras, bean producers play an important role in increasing food security. We talked to Tomás Membreño, chief of party for the MAS 2.0 program, to learn how they are improving their livelihoods and contributing to food security through this crisis.
Read about TechnoServe's partnership with the Walmart Foundation to help smallholder farmers access more productive and profitable supply chains in Central America.
TechnoServe is helping farming families in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia respond to the pandemic, recover from the crisis, and build resilience to future threats. Our new report shows how, with the right support, these farmers can overcome immense obstacles and emerge from the crisis in a position to participate in economic recovery.
Learn how TechnoServe's entrepreneurship practice is supporting small businesses with survival and recovery in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.
