Female Economic Empowerment in the Fields of Honduras

In the department of Choluteca, in southern Honduras, hundreds of rural women have turned crops into a source of personal income, resilience, and opportunity for their families.

Food systems are one of the main sources of employment in developing countries. In communities where women’s agricultural work went largely unseen for years, the active participation of women in the fields and in processing plants is transforming livelihoods and challenging stereotypes.

“Women are capable of anything, as long as we believe we are.” These are the words of Denia Calderón, an okra producer who is now a member of the board of directors of CAVEXSA, an employer of more than 600 people in the area. “Thanks to okra, I fulfilled my dream of visiting my sister in Spain,” she says.

Opportunities to Acquire New Skills

In San Marcos de Colón, the San Marqueña Coffee Cooperative (COCASAM) has managed to position its specialty coffee in international markets, generating employment both on farms and in its processing plant.

Selena Mercado arrived at the cooperative in 2008. Like many other women, she began in less-visible roles: filling bags, transplanting seedlings, and working in nurseries. Over time, her perseverance and skills led her to specialize in selecting high‑quality coffee, a task that requires attention to detail and technical knowledge.

For the past five years, she has also been a permanent employee and responsible for operating the forklift at the plant—a position that until recently was almost exclusively held by men. “We all have the right to learn,” she says. “When the forklift arrived, I wasn’t afraid. Before, coffee had to be lifted by force; now it’s faster and safer.”

For many of these women, accessing employment has not been easy: the journey has been marked by demanding workdays, learning by doing, and the need to balance productive work with household responsibilities.

“I was a housewife—I'm not ashamed to say it,” Denia recalls. Entering agriculture was neither an easy nor immediate decision: “At first, I didn’t want to, because I felt it was heavy work meant for men.” Over time, however, she learned to manage production, face pests, and make decisions in the field. Today, she not only works her own plot but also generates employment for others and actively participates in COCASAM’s leadership spaces.

Rural Women Who Now Make Decisions and Create Jobs

Denia is not the only one. When Evenilda Morán retired in 2015 as a primary school teacher, she thought it was time to stay at home. Evenilda, who owned land suitable for raw sugarcane production but had never worked in agriculture, is now the president of the Union of Sugarcane Producers of the South (UPROCASUR), an organization of small and medium‑scale producers in southern Honduras.

“It was not at all a process that allowed us to make money quickly,” she explains. “Here you have to learn how to manage the crop, how to fertilize, how to clean, how to understand the process.” Along with the rest of the board, she began training in production, machinery operation, quality control, and organizational management to start what is now the country’s first industrial plant for powdered sugarcane.

Today, the plant generates employment for hundreds of people during the harvest season, and for Evenilda, that impact is one of the greatest rewards. “It’s very satisfying to see the amount of labor needed and to know that jobs are being created in the area,” she says. She also highlights the transformation within families: income that helps sustain households, opportunities for young people who might otherwise migrate, and new skills acquired by workers who had never set foot in an industrial plant.

The Entrepreneurial Spirit the Country Needs

María Rutilia Mendoza, also a member of COCASAM, is an associated producer and secretary of the cooperative’s Oversight Board. From her experience, she emphasizes the value of collective organization in improving the incomes of farming families.

“Before, we delivered our production to intermediaries,” she explains. “By organizing, we have increased the economic value of the coffee, and that allows us to support our families.” For Mendoza, women’s leadership in the agricultural sector begins with recognizing themselves as capable and complementing the work of others in the territory: “When women and men join forces, it becomes easier to develop a community, a municipality, and, why not say it, a whole country.”

In María Rutilia’s case, this entrepreneurial vision has gone beyond COCASAM. She has turned her farm into a small business that diversifies family income. Starting with coffee, she incorporated activities like agritourism and artisanal product making, now receiving both national and international visitors and creating new economic opportunities for herself and other families.

Role Models for Future Generations

The business plans of CAVEXSA, COCASAM, and UPROCASUR have been supported by the ComRural II project, implemented by the Government of Honduras with support from the World Bank Group. The program has backed rural business plans in different departments of the country, helping strengthen agricultural competitiveness and job creation, with specific initiatives to support women’s employment. This project aligns with AgriConnect, the World Bank Group’s initiative to transform small‑scale agriculture, create jobs, and strengthen global food security.

In Honduras, where women are much more likely than men to hold vulnerable jobs, it is crucial for future generations to have examples of women who lead agricultural projects. “This challenge also helps my daughters, so they can see that you can always stay active, learning, and contributing,” says Evenilda. ComRural II has supported 19 business plans from Rural Producer Organizations (OPRs) with more than 2,500 members, one‑third of whom are women.

Stories like those of Denia, Evenilda, Selena, or María Rutilia show that economic empowerment is not tied to age or a linear path. It can begin after retirement, arise from collective learning, and be strengthened by the determination not to give up. The key lies in landing that first opportunity.