Make a Donation in Support of Our Program

The Cafe Solar® program is implemented by the non-profit Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI), co-managers of Pico Pijol and Montaña de Yoro National Parks in Honduras, in conjunction with organized small producers and communities throughout the Yoro Biological Corridor.

Your Funding Helps with:

• Increasing sustainability in the coffee industry using innovative clean energy technology and forest-friendly farming methods.
• Helping independent farmer organizations by providing economic security, valuable training and better job opportunities.
• Supporting women in important management positions in Central America.

About MDI

Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI) is introducing innovations in coffee production and processing to mitigate climate change by restoring and conserving forest habitat on private lands (coffee farms) in the coffee regions threatening cloud forest and national parks.

Our land-sparing coffee production method is coupled with carbon-neutral coffee processing to create an agroecosystem that sequesters carbon, conserves biodiversity, and maintains the headwaters of the watersheds critical to local communities and municipalities. Key attributes of our work include:

• Local youth are trained to operate renewable energy technology, map and measure Integrated Open Canopy™ farms, and monitor biodiversity and water quality in our study region that includes over 100 test sites in the headwaters of key watersheds that serve the nation’s largest electric utility, the El Cajon Hydropower plant.

• Participating coffee farms can trade carbon offsets as incentive to conserve and/or restore forest habitat on their farms, providing more economic stability to volatile coffee prices.

• Over 15 years of biodiversity study and peer-reviewed publications demonstrate that Integrated Open Canopy™ farms support more bird species than any other coffee system, including forest-dependent migratory birds not supported by shade coffee. Integrated Open Canopy™ is MDI’s award-winning (U.S. Forest Service’s “Wings Across the Americas”) agroforestry system for coffee and biofuels.

• Consumers of Café Solar® are able to support the first off-grid coffee processing center that does not burn wood to industrially dry coffee.

• Women are provided opportunities for leadership positions. Women are in key management positions relating to procurement, exports, and quality control.

How Funding is Used
For the current 2020/2021 harvest season, MDI is seeking funds for:

• Implementation and mapping of IOC pilot farms in Yoro, Honduras
• Continued on-site training for the preparation and export of coffee using clean technology
• Technical support for the processing of locally produced biofuel and onsite generation of electricity
• Ongoing documentation and refinement of carbon assessment and protocols.