Sustainability of the Honduran coffee industry from the CSR of SMES

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is fundamental since its actions intensify sustainability, directly impacting the environment and society, but at the same time contributing to the reputation and profitability of the coffee sector. Additionally, social responsibility is necessary to obtain socio-environmental certification, which allows the product to be marketed at a better price in the international market. This document presents the state of corporate social responsibility in the coffee sector seen from the perspective of the producer, the perception, its criteria and the difference between small and medium producers were explored, through qualitative methodology. A semi-structured survey of eight questions was applied to 44 business informants (coffee producers), based on the environmental, social and reputational dimension for the SME segment of the Honduran coffee regions of: Agalta, Comayagua, Copan, El Paraíso, Montecillos and Opalaca.

The data was processed using ATLAS.it9, which allowed the speech of the respondents to be coded. The main findings stand out as emerging codes: Product offering, preservation, environmental awareness, commitment to the community, environmental education, lack of social commitment, commitment to employees and reforestation. It was identified that producer value the environmental dimension more and there is no difference in perceptions between small and medium producers.