There’s a catch-22 happening for thousands of family farms in Honduras who grow coffee as their way to earn a living, and it’s this: growing and processing coffee takes a lot of water, but Honduras has been in a drought for more than five years now. The very thing most needed to earn a living is also the very thing in short supply. Catholic Relief Services has been working with thousands of coffee farmers in Central America to use improved techniques that save them a lot of water. It’s working. Using these techniques, Wilfredo Sanchez, the farmer in this photo, reduced the water he uses to produce coffee by 75 percent. When water is already in short supply, saving that much water really makes a difference.
The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos.
