Honduran coffee harvest relies on child workers

[Judi Lynn]

Honduran coffee harvest relies on child workers
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 24th, 2010 -- 5:37 pm

EL PARAISO, Honduras — Evelyn and Carlos toil for 10 hours a day on chilly mountainsides in Honduras, filling baskets with ripe red coffee beans for a handful of dollars: they are six and eight years old.

"Sometimes I fill up to seven baskets a day," said Evelyn, deftly swatting branches out of her way before picking prime Honduran coffee beans and dropping them into a wicker container hanging from her tiny waist.

Evelyn's estimate was likely a bit off since Carlos, two years her senior, said he only managed four -- Evelyn could easily be forgiven as she had just started school and was still learning basic arithmetic.

The children probably manage to pick about 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of coffee beans a day. Their rich produce sold this week at market for 2.34 dollars a pound -- a daily haul, therefore, worth roughly 150 dollars.

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/honduran-coffee-child-workers/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Honduran Army Evicts Farmers in Aguan Valley

Honduran Army Evicts Farmers in Aguan Valley

TEGUCIGALPA - Army and police members evicted on Wednesday dozens of Honduran farmers, who blocked a road demanding solutions to the land conflict in Aguan Valley.

Nearly 500 troops took part in the operation launched in the road linking Tocoa and Trujillo municipalities, in northern Colon department, where farmers from the Unified Peasants Movement of Aguan (MUCA) had been blocking the road for eleven days to demand the demilitarization of the area and compliance with agreements reached with the Government in April.

~snip~
"We need every farmer to have a plot of land to make a living, said MUCA member Agustin Calix, who denounced that 35 farmers have been killed for fighting for a piece of land.

Honduras is one of the countries in the region with the highest social inequality, with only one percent of producers holding a third of the most fertile land.

http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/december/16/centralamerica10121602.htm