Small-scale coffee growers in the northern Honduran region of Subirana are promoting the use of solar power to dry coffee beans in order to mitigate the pollution caused by other processes. Similar initiatives are also underway in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Some traditional methods of coffee drying have harmful impacts on the environment, such as those that involve the use of firewood, explained Raúl Raudales of the Mesoamerican Development Institute, which has offices at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and is backing the initiative in Costa Rica and Honduras.

The process to be used combines the use of solar panels and organic fuels. The higher quality of the coffee dried through this method, according to experts, will mean greater value added and make it possible to sell it on the European market at higher prices, Raudales told Tierramérica.

Coffee exports bring in export revenues of 1.2 billion dollars annually for Honduras.