Community Farmers Transform Local Economy & Health

There is good news to share as COMAL and affiliated communities break ground for the new natural cane sugar plant in central Honduras. Our next report will share photos and information on that progress.

But today we want to take a step back and share the history of COMAL’s production of “panela granulada” in Honduras. COMAL network founder Trinidad Sanchez traveled to Ecuador in the early 1990s as part of an exchange visit within the larger RELACC network. RELACC is the “Latin American Community Marketing Network,” based in Quito, Ecuador.  

The mission of RELACC is clear:  "Inspired by the principles of Economic Solidarity, we facilitate development processes with vulnerable populations in training, capacity building, research, information, technology transfer, and the promotion of our forms of production, transformation, alternative marketing, consumption, and exchange of goods and services, to build a more just and equitable society with quality and cultural-ethnic respect for the environment, contributing to improving the population's quality of life, with a rights-based approach across the life cycle and an emphasis on women, youth, children, and older adults in Latin America."

In that spirit of collaboration, a farmer-to-farmer technology transfer took place. RELACC and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) facilitated travel by Andean cane growers to Honduras. These cane growers taught Honduran farmers the technical aspects of this environmentally friendly industry: these included crushing the cane soon after cutting, boiling the juice to an exact temperature to evaporate water, and churning the concentrated syrup until it crystallizes.

This year, RELACC celebrates is 35th anniversary of bringing together organizations across countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. COMAL honors these roots and shares photos of RELACC's 3rd Anniversary as well as its recent 35th Anniversary gathering in neighboring Guatemala. The community is hemispheric!