Norlan’s Chilis: A Labor of Love

Norlan is a rock star pepper farmer

Norlan Lopez lives in San Jose, one of our villages in Nicaragua. Before choosing to work with Agros, he knew only corn and beans . “I didn’t know anything [about vegetables],” he told us, shyly. But highly technical crops like vegetables, coffee, and cacao bring much higher profits. He and his wife Martha have a 4 year old daughter, Jocelyn, so even though he knew he was signing up for a steep learning curve and thousands of sweaty hours laboring to nurture these delicate plants, it was more than worth it for his family.

Before Norlan planted his pepper crop, his friends and family told him he was crazy. “Peppers are too hard,” they would say. Despite the ridicule, Norlan pushed on anyway. Norlan invested nearly $2,000 into a chile pepper crop last year and saw an amazing return: he more than doubled his investment. Not only was he able to pay off the crop credit, but he made a $1,400 payment on his land loan and saved $1,000 to reinvest in a new pepper crop this year. Once his friends and family saw the results of Norlan’s hard work, they realized they were wrong. As a result many of his friends and extended family have started cultivating peppers too.

Why Has He Been So Successful?

Norlan has peppers down to a science; an agricultural science. With guidance from Agros agronomists, he has implemented region specific farming techniques that have facilitated extremely good production results. One such technique is contour farming, which saves water and fertilizer by utilizing the natural slopes of the land instead of plowing flat fields. Along with his newly learned techniques, Norlan tends to his crops like they are his children.

Why Is This Story So Important?

Not only is it another triumph towards the eradication of poverty, but this story, the story of Norlan and his family, is one that sets a standard. Agricultural sustainability is central to the foundation of Agros progress in rural villages. Farming, when profitable, allows families to generate enough revenue to not only own their own land, but to also escape the grueling cycle of poverty. But it is not as simple as finding land and planting crops.

The truth is a lot of families struggle with agriculture because smallholder farmers are inherently vulnerable. They can lose everything to unexpected drought, market turbulence, pests or corrupt middlemen.

With the proper tools, education, and market connections, it’s our goal at Agros to develop our farmers’ capacity to withstand these shocks. When a farmer has progressed enough, like Norlan, to reliably produce a consistently excellent crop, then he can transact with agricultural exporters who will guarantee a minimum price and a market.

For Norlan, that means a reliable income, one he can invest in his family’s health, well-being, and dreams.

While Norlan has learned a lot from our agricultural technicians, we have learned even more for him. Our ultimate goal in each one of our communities is to facilitate prosperous agribusinesses like his, along with the needed tools to sustain them.

Norlan’s story is one we want to replicate with every Agros farmer! Norlan summarizes the impact Agros and pepper cultivation has had on him and his family. Here, we have to work hard to be able to pay for the land, but when Jocelyn is grown at least she will have a place to live. If we had continued to work other people’s land we never would have had anything for us.”

Uncovering Hidden Treasure: Henrry and Maria’s Story

What Henry Hopkins, 35, lacks in stature, he more than makes up for in personality and determination. The small, energetic man is not afraid of hard, physical work or responsibility. He will do whatever is necessary to be able to provide for his family: his wife, Maria, as well as three sons and two daughters.

Henrry’s Childhood

“Life has always been hard for us,” he says, matter-of-factly, as if he never expected anything else. Hard work and poverty are all Henry had ever known. He was born into a family of day laborers. Both his mom and his dad worked other people’s land and lived in rented or loaned structures wherever they could.

For Henry, life was difficult but bearable until his parents separated when he was 10. To this day, he cannot talk about that time without tears welling up in his eyes and his voice beginning to quiver. “I don’t like to remember that time,” is all he manages to get out before tears start to stream down his face.

Maria shares the result of his parent’s divorce: Henry’s mother went to the city, Henry stopped attending school after finishing just his primary education, and he eventually went to live with his uncle, who showed him at a young age how to fend for himself by working in the fields.

Starting a Family

He met Maria and they started a family. They had three boys Kevin, now 16, Elton, now 14, and Henry now 12. They wanted to have more children, but had a hard time even providing for the needs of their three boys so they stopped, hoping their situation would improve, eventually. But, their situation did not improve; it couldn’t without land.

Like their parents before them and other landless farmers, Henry and Maria rented plots of land from large landowners to be able to grow their own food (paying their rent in a share of the crop). They also worked as day laborers on other nearby farms to earn cash for the things they needed but couldn’t grow, like soap, salt and oil. As harvests can be unpredictable and work hard to find, they lived day-by-day, never knowing where their next meal would come from, when they would have the chance to work again or who would loan them land next year.

Life With Agros

Today, things are different. “At least we have food and a house our life is stable,” says Henry. “Thanks to Agros and God, we have changed a lot,” says Henry, with a big smile, noting that access to land has been the biggest change. “The most important change is we have somewhere to live and some where to work,” he says. “Today, we have a treasure,” he says. “The land is our hidden treasure,” says Henry.

But, Henry realizes that although the land is a treasure, it would have been like a diamond trapped deep inside a mine, invisible and of almost no immediate help to him or his family without the appropriate tools and additional support from Agros to be able to access it. [Agros] gave us a house, they helped us bring water, they are helping us be able to diversify our crops.” He says this with a smile, as he boasts that he was able to harvest 4,000 pounds of beans this past season, thanks to improved agriculture techniques.

The Future

Today, Henrry is excited and optimistic about the future. He enjoys learning from Agros agricultural technicians who teach him and other partners how to plant, care for and harvest more lucrative crops; like cacao, rice and coffee. “So far I have only planted one part of my land with coffee,” he explains, excited and anxious to harvest his first crop in the coming months. “I love to work with coffee,” he says. “It is a crop that can earn you lots of money. If I am able, I want to change all my land over to coffee,” he says, explaining that he already has the next group of coffee plants growing in his nursery.

Henry cannot say enough good things about his experience with Agros and he doesn’t have to. The work speaks for itself as Henry who is part of the community’s board of directors knows well. People come all the time and say, “Help me Henry, I know about Agros. How can I be part of this community?”

Tierra Nueva

Henry’s life is not the only one that has improved. He shares how “It’s not just me. Here there are 150 families here in Tierra Nueva, the whole community is improved. We have land, somewhere to live, and support to be able to continue working. The only thing we are missing is electricity.”

Because of his family’s increased stability and improved outlook on life, Henry and Maria decided they could grow their family again as well. Since joining Agros, they have added two beautiful girls, Urania 2.5 years old and Marisol, 6 months old, to their family. “We needed them,” he says with a smile.

Bringing American Dream to Honduras Through Land Reform

Although it is technically part of the North American continent the ‘American Dream’ does not apply to peasant farmers in Central America. No matter how hard you pull, it is impossible to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Here, if you want to get ahead, someone has to reach down to give you a hand up. This hand up is possible through land reform in Honduras.

As someone born into poverty, Luis Alonso Pineda, 49, knows firsthand the obstacles he and others face when trying to break the cycle of poverty. He shares:

“For people in Honduras, even though you work and you give forth great effort, you still will not reach your dreams unless you get an opportunity”

Growing up in the countryside, Alonso never had the opportunity to get an education because it was too dangerous for him to travel all the way to the nearest school. So, like others in his circumstances, Alonso learned by doing. He started working young: by the age of 15 he was helping his parents with their crops. At 18, he started working formally as a day laborer. “I worked on someone else’s land to see if I could help my parents pay for food etc…” he remembers.

Although Alonso married and started his own family, his circumstances never changed. “I always depended on someone else,” he says. “I wanted to have a better life, a better future,” he says. “[But], I did not have any hope. [I had accepted the fact] that this was my life, working for someone else.”

But then he heard about an organization in 2008 that was going to help create land reform in Honduras. This organization would give poor farmers the opportunity to purchase land on credit. Alonso was among the first in line. “I told my friends, this is the opportunity.”’”

After years of hard work and credit from Agros, land reform in Honduras is a reality. The village of Bella Vista is this reality.

“Agros keeps its promises,” says Alonso, who is also the three-time community president of Bella Vista. “It keeps them to the degree that the villager is willing to put forth their effort and value the effort that Agros is making,” he says, highlighting the fact that Agros gives people a hand up instead of a hand out. Land reform in Honduras is the opportunity to climb to a better life. But the destination cannot be reached without hard work and sacrifice.

Barring any unforeseen issues, Alonso estimates that they will finish paying for their land in two years — ahead of schedule. “It makes me feel happy [to know that the land is almost paid for],” he says. “It means that my efforts are not in vain and we were able to achieve our goals.”

Thanks to support for Agros land reform in Honduras and the subsequent economic reform is creating sustainable futures for the rural poor. Our Coffee Lovers Club members are a part of this process. 1% from every shipment goes back to Agros to help continue the work of land reform in Honduras and through out Central America.

Want to be part of the solution of land reform in Honduras?

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Helping rural poor Nicaragua has been a goal of Agros since 1999. Here is a story of Agros’s work in Nicargua helping rural poor Nicaragua. This is Efrain and Orbelinda’s story.

Driving along the gravel road that runs no more than 100 yards from Efrain’s house, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to know that just up the hill, hidden behind some trees, is a small neighborhood. The cluster of shelters scattered along the hillside, many of them made at least partly out of black plastic, look more like a squatter community, which is essentially what it is, except it is legal.

These homes sit on a piece of land that belongs to the Nicaraguan government. They set aside this piece of land so people who have nothing could have somewhere legitimate (and out of sight) to settle. There is no entrance, no running water, no electricity, and no sewer.

Like other families in the area, Efrain, 28, his wife, Orbelinda, 31, and their four children: Jeyner, 11; Selena, 8; Yesica, 6, and Malin, 3, live without guarantees that they will be able to stay. “[The land is] not mine,” explains Efrain. “We don’t have any documents that show us as the owners.””

The words ‘struggle’ and ‘survive’ come up often in the conversation with Efrain and Orbelinda. Although they try to remain positive, they are honest about what life looks like for them as landless farmers and day laborers.

Their house is no more than 50 square feet, the walls are made of thin wood boards and provide a small measure of privacy. But with the wide gaps between the walls, the family has very little protection from the elements. “When it rains hard or when there is wind, the rain comes inside,” says Orbelinda, noting that the roof (which is made of black plastic) also leaks. Without running water or an easily accessible water source, the family must trek to a nearby creek to bathe, wash, and collect water. They, along with all the other families in the area, use the water source for all these activities, so naturally the water is not very clean.

Efrain works hard as a day laborer on nearby farms to try to provide for his family’s needs. Orbelinda conservatively estimates that they need between $3 and $5 a day just to provide basic food (beans and tortillas) for their family of six. Efrain doesn’t make that much as a day laborer so he tries to make ends meet by growing some of their food. The problem is, he doesn’t have his own land.

I rent land to cultivate, he explains. This growing season, he has rented two manzanas (about 5 acres) to grow beans. In addition to the cost of the seeds and fertilizers necessary for his crop to succeed, he also owes the landowner about $220 for the use of the land.

Nevertheless, Efrain never misses an opportunity. “I’m not afraid of hard work,” he says. “I like hard work.” The only problem is that at least to date it seems, to him, that the harder he works the further behind he seems to get. It doesn’t seem to matter how much effort he invests, a brighter future and the dream of independence seem to get further and further away.

He doesn’t want much, just a chance to control his own destiny and the opportunity to provide a better future for his children. “I would like to have a dignified place to live and my own land to plant,” he says. That’s all.

But although he dreams of owning his own land, when he wakes up each day he is confronted by the daily need to simply survive. “I’ve always just been able to harvest enough for our food,” he says.

For all these reasons, Efrain was excited to learn about the opportunities from Agros how they are helping rural poor Nicaragua. Efrain is excited to try new agricultural techniques. “I like to do things the right way,” he says, explaining how he has meticulously implemented the guidance from the Agros agricultural technicians. “I am seeing the change in the success of this harvest in the area where we applied the techniques from Agros,” he says.

Today, Efrain is a bit more optimistic about his future with Agros helping rural poor Nicaragua. He hopes his family will be selected to move when the new village is established. “For me, the hardest thing [in life] is the land [having my own land],” he says which is why being part of the new regional project would be, as he says — a dream come true!”

Thanks to our Coffee Lovers Club members helping rural poor Nicaragua is possible. 2% from every club shipment goes back helping rural poor Nicaragua and other countries through our partnerships with Agros and Food 4 Farmers. You too can help with your daily cup of coffee. Join the Coffee Lovers Club and get your first pound free