Agriculture, both for export and internal consumption, is the
largest single segment of the Honduran economy. In 2004, it
accounted for 13.3 percent of GDP, worth just under US$1
billion, although it employed nearly half the country’s
workforce. As in other parts of Latin America, an increasing
number of people are leaving the countryside to look for work in
the cities or emigrating to Mexico and the United States. In
spite of the large percentage of people living and working in
the countryside, land ownership is dramatically skewed in
Honduras. In 1993, more than 60 percent of the country’s arable
land was in the hands of the Honduran government and the two
largest foreign banana companies, Chiquita and Castle and Cooke.
By contrast, 80 percent of the country’s farmers owned less than
10 hectares of land each, and the average parcel size is 2.5
hectares. Honduras has a complex system of land ownership and
tenancy. While some farmers own their land outright, it’s much
more common to work the land under some o