From the Highlands of Guatemala: Cardamom as the only source of income

Vista of Guatemala highlands with corn

Yesterday, the inevitable happened: Elana got sick after eating some very questionable chicken soup while we were in the mountains. I was still feeling okay, so I went on our planned trip to the Zona Reyna (North Uspantan) by myself to meet another Peace Corps volunteer and talk to cardamom growers. 

The drive was gorgeous, and luckily shorter than expected (3.5 hours instead of 5).  We went up, through, and around the mountains before heading down into a semi tropical (but still mountainous zone).  Luckily Obidio has a big, 4 wheel drive car, because the road was ridiculous. 

We drove through a couple of small rivers and around a lot of big rocks.  Apparently, the road is better than it used to be, but some of the farmers I talked to still identified it as their main farming constraint, since it makes access to any outside markets pretty difficult. 

Cardamom grows wild along the road side

The main source of income in this region is cardamom, which was introduced in the 1980s by a priest. Plants take three years to bare after they are planted, but will continue producing for many years. 

The plant itself is pretty interesting.  You can't really see in the picture (below), but the upper portion has big leaves on tall stalks.  They grow together in a clump, and can be taller than a person. 

Underneath (what Obidio is holding in the picture left) the cardamom pods grow on shorter stalks. 

When it is harvest time (Oct to December), tons of people come to the region to work as cardamom cutters.  They cut off each individual pod, and are paid 1 quetzal per pound of pods.  Then, the pods are taken to the dryer and dried.  The first cut is the best quality, then the second, etc.  Buyers come from Coban, a town about 8 hours away, and buy the dried cardamom.  Then it goes back to Coban, then to the capital from where it is exported - mainly to Saudi Arabia. 

Cardamom seeds and plant

It takes 4 to 5 pounds of green cardamom to make a pound of dried cardamom.  Since everyone's income comes from cardamom, people get money in October-December (the harvest season), and make do the rest of year without income. 

According to the local Peace Corps volunteer contact, no one ever has money by the time October comes around, so everyone has to sell their cardamom as quickly as they can, rather than waiting for a better price.  Additionally, green cardamom doesn't keep well, so everyone needs to use the dryer at the same time (each drying takes a couple of days). 

There is at least one dryer in town, but I think some people have to sell their cardamom green and have it dried in Coban. 

"Fertigated" peppers at nursery

In addition to talking to farmers, we visited a public high school in the next town.  It is run by South Africans, and gets volunteer teachers from all over the world (and Guatemala!). 

 

They have courses in cooperative management, where the students form a cooperative, elect their leadership and make shared decisions.  They also sell the crops they grow as a co-op, and get to decide how to save or invest their profits!  They also do a crop production class, where they learn how to grow horticultural crops.  They learn about the nutritional values of all the crops, and at the end of the term they make a meal for their teachers and families using everything they grew.

The school is really interested in season extension, and has several protected cultivation structures where they are growing tomatoes and peppers with "fertigation" (a fertilizer watering system).  They also have a mushroom growing project, and are planning to start doing hydroponics soon.  I wish I had gone to high school there! 

Unfortunately, though, the students are growing crops that most families don't grow (although they will buy the students¨ peppers, tomatoes, etc. in the market), so local farmers are not really using the school as an information resource. 

 

The agronomist at the school said that he has helped farmers out with their livestock in the past, but he is really busy at the school.  The school has encouraged local families to start using worm compost (which they buy from the school, but theoretically could begin making) - everyone in the area grows organically by default: there isn't a lot of access to inputs. 

 

Luckily, it seems like the soil is good and there are few disease and pest problems, although some people had heard (on the radio) about a new cardamom disease in a neighboring region. 

Kelsey Barale, graduate student, International Agricultural Development, UC Davis

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The final funny thing that happened yesterday: we were eating lunch with a family, and an older lady came in and asked the Peace Corps volunteer (right in front of me) if I was a woman.  Apparently some American men had come to town at some point, and everyone thought they were women because they had long hair. Ever since, this lady has been very curious about Americans and how to tell who is a man and who is a woman.