Emma Sarahi Navarro Roque

Coffee is a crop of commercial interest worldwide and its production is mainly dominated by men, leaving women to produce subsistence crops such as vegetables. However, in Marcala, Honduras the Coffee Equilibrio[1] (pseudonym) exporting company involves women in the production and export of coffee. The objective of the study is to analyze the identity and situation faced by women coffee growers from Marcala who market their coffee with an export company. The primary method of data collection was through the participatory photovoice methodology, complemented by semi-structured interviews with Café Equilibrio members and executives The photographs taken by the women were classified according to the research questions and analyzed using the Feminist Agri-Food Systems Theory (FAST). The results demonstrate that the identity of the Marcala coffee women is influenced by cultural, religious, and social factors. Also, it was identified that women implement sustainable agricultural practices that facilitate their access to the international organic coffee market and improvement of their household food security. Coffee Equilibrio has sought to satisfy the economic needs of the women and has contributed to strengthening their technical, personal, and social skills. This study also contributed to the FAST Theory by incorporating a family approach to gender analysis, given that in Honduran women coffee growers involved seek their development more at the family than at the individual level. [1] To protect the privacy of the company, the fictitious name "Café Equilibrio" will be used throughout the document.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has as its vision a sustainable food system that contributes to food security and the eradication of hunger and malnutrition in all its forms. The food agroindustry (FA) plays a key role in guaranteeing the food supply chain, in an effective and equitable manner, that avoids affecting the population, particularly the most vulnerable. The objective of this work was to identify the challenges that the FA faces to contribute to a sustainable system, and directly to SDGs 2 and 13, since both are linked to the achievement of sustainable development, as well as to provide recommendations in this regard. Some of the key aspects in which the FA would contribute to achieving these SDGs are the increase in sustainable production, access to equitable distribution, the reduction of food waste and the advertising exposure of ultra-processed foods, and innovation in the development of nutritious and sustainable foods. On the other hand, the FA has opportunities such as technology and digitalization, alliances with different sectors, the promotion of responsible consumption and local foods, among others. It is recommended to promote education, research, investment in agricultural infrastructure, the regulation of the content of critical nutrients and the implementation of front-of-pack labeling of nutrients, as well as supporting initiatives that improve access to adequate nutrition such as school feeding programs, of social protection and projects that strengthen the resilience of rural communities in the face of climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of two hurricanes in 2020 made evident the vulnerability of the Honduran food system. These events showed the need to strengthen the involvement of the different actors in the system for timely decision-making toward healthy and sustainable food. This document identified problems such as the lack of diversification in food production, the difficult access to healthy and nutritious food, the consumption of ultra-processed foods, and the consequences on the health of the Honduran population. These consequences are reflected in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, anemia, overweight, obesity, stunting in children under 5 years of age, and the double burden of malnutrition. Therefore, it is proposed that intervention strategies in the food system be oriented to public health, through policies that lead to changes in food environments and respond to the production, transformation, and consumption of sustainable food. This strategy should include the promotion of livelihoods in favor of ensuring nutrition, food security, and food sovereignty of the population. It is necessary that government, producers, private enterprises, development institutions, organized civil society, and academia, are well articulated and linked in a way that nutrition-sensitive strategies can be implemented.