A Year in Farming: Our Favorite Photos of 2024
Our photo series highlights the beauty and emotion in the lives of our clients around the world. This month, we’re showcasing the journey of farmers as they navigate each stage of the farming cycle, from planting to harvest and beyond.
As December begins and the year comes to a close, many farmers are reflecting on the most recent farming cycle and preparing themselves to be successful in the year ahead. From coffee washing to sorting tomatoes, post-harvest activities are only possible because of the hard work and care farmers invest throughout the seasons—planting, growing, and harvesting their crops.
These photos offer a glimpse into a farming cycle, showcasing how farmers in Honduras, Peru, and Mozambique navigate each stage of the year with resilience and skill.
It Starts with a Cocoa Seedling in Honduras
Meet Alejandro Edgardo Madrid, a cocoa farmer in San Antonio Cortés, Honduras, and part of the San Antonio de Cortés Agroindustrial Producers Association.
Alejandro participated in the Viverista Estrella (“Star Nurseryman”) training through the Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) program. MOCCA aims to help more than 100,000 farmers across Central America and the Andean Region overcome the barriers limiting their capacity to effectively rehabilitate and renovate their coffee and cacao plants.
Caring for Coffee Crops in Peru
Despite his young age, Cristian Jeher Silva has been a coffee farmer for many years. In this photo, he and his mother, Lilibeth Llanos, work together to care for coffee crops on their family farm in Peru.
Cristian had initially dreamed of building a life away from the farm and was training to be an auto mechanic in Moyobamba, Peru, when the pandemic hit in 2020. The lockdowns and restrictions on movement made Cristian feel trapped in the city, and like many young people during the pandemic, Cristian decided to move home in 2021.
The same year he returned to the family farm, Cristian joined TechnoServe’s Alianza CAFE project, where he improved his farming techniques and received training that reshaped his relationship to gender roles. Although initially skeptical, Cristian soon came to appreciate the importance and value of including women in every aspect and stage of the agricultural process. He used his training to help transform the family plot into a thriving coffee operation. He and his partner are building a future together where a life of coffee farming is one to be proud of.
Harvesting Tomatoes in Mozambique
Olívia owns a 3-hectare field in Mozambique’s Beira Corridor, where she produces tomatoes, watermelons, and a variety of vegetables. She is a client of the Mangwana program, which supports smallholder farmers in increasing their climate resilience, incomes, and food security. This region experiences extended periods of drought. Through the program, Olívia has received technical assistance and inputs – including improved tomato seeds – to help her adapt to these drought conditions.
With new seeds, Olívia expects to produce 50 tons of tomatoes, a more than three-fold increase over her previous production. “I’m learning from the Mangwana technicians how to control, from the purchase of seeds to the harvest,” Olívia shared. In our final photo of this year’s series, Olívia smiles next to the tomatoes she harvested in her field in Dondo, Mozambique.
Vote for your favorite photo
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite snapshot of the farming cycle below.
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