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Conservation and environmental characteristics: The farm is located in the buffer zone of the Mountain of Santa Barbara. This mountain is a natural reserve declared National Park that bears its same name. It is one of the most diverse and least explored ecosystems in Central America having forests clouds, rain forests and pine forests. It consists of a total area of 321.23 Km2. There is a great diversity of wildlife, such as pacas, squirrels, raccoons, bobcats, parrots, maids, mountain cocks and a variety of timber species such as pine, cedar, mahogany and laurel beside other species such as avocados, cablotes, sweetgum, madreado, hormigo, sapodilla, ferns and orchids. Indigenous communities or associations: The population is native to the Lenca ethnic group so it has inherited many of their practices and customs. Historical contribution of the region: Coffee harvesting is the main activity that generates income thru direct and indirect employment in the municipality, as there are 231 coffee producers cultivating 670 Hectares and producing 8,901 qq of coffee with an average yield of 13.28 gold Sacks / hectare, of which 90% are small producers, being coffee their main source of income and the base of economy of most families. Harvesting practices: The coffee harvest begins in the month of January and ends in June; it’s done manually for which cutters come in from the municipalities of Las Vegas, Taulabe and also from the same village. - Before each cut, guidelines are given to the cutters of how to cut the red cherries and how to move the lots to the collection site, using tumbillas and clean bags to avoid contaminating the coffee. The coffee milling process is wet; it has a pulping machine, fermentation basin and abundant clean water from the springs of the National Park Mountain of Santa Barbara. As for the drying, it is done in a solar dryer acquired through the IHCAFE program of solar dryers. Transporting the coffee is done by mules as there is no access road to the property; this activity is one of the most difficult because of the topography of the terrain and the rugged road. History As the farm begins: We are originally from the Quelepa village located in the buffer zone of the Mountain of Santa Barbara in the Las Vegas municipality, where my father had his first farm. In 1991 I finished primary school and at that time I wanted my dad to send me to study in the city, but he said he wanted his children to become coffee producers because he did not want us to be anyone else’s employees. My father was a coffee producer of a very strict nature but with very good moral values. He then let my brother and I do the work of the coffee milling. For us it was a very sacrificing activity because we were kids, we had to receive the coffee and do the pulping by hand until four in the morning, due to the lack of a motor for this activity. It was a farm where there was only a small mill and no family home, and at the age of 10 years we were very afraid of the dark of the night. But yet we had to obey my father because when the coffee fermentation was ready we had to carry it on our backs to a creek to wash and return with it, and then dry it in a courtyard. It was an activity that we had to learn to do well because if it was not, we could get reprimanded and had to return to wash it again, having to travel about 1 km. One of the only places we had fun was at school but when we came back to the house, we then had to go to the farm and continued working. Time wore on and my father was acquiring more land and expanding the cultivation. At 15 years old, I asked my father to give me a small plot of land to build my farm. He gave me some, but with the commitment that I would continue to assist him. Thus I began to cultivate that plot with the pacas variety. I first planted an estimated of one thousand plants to which I gave an excellent attending. I remember that in 1995 there were very good prices on coffee, so I began to produce and achieve leverage on some of these prices. Revenues were good and the inputs were cheap so I could then plant a bigger lot. But I began to move away from my father since by then I was a young adult who wanted independence. This upset my father a little since; I was the one who helped him at managing the farm. In 1996 coffee prices were still good and my father decided to buy land in the mountains of Santa Barbara in the Ojo de Aguita village in the municipality of Concepcion del Sur. This area is known as La Leona. He made us the proposal that if we supported him he would buy it. None of my brothers accepted but I did, provided that he gave me a plot to work, to which he gave me an affirmative answer. Thus how we came to the village Ojo de Aguita, travelling from the village of Quelepa every day, leaving every morning at three oclock with the rest of the workers. We started making coffee nurseries and bean nurseries to subsist. The first coffee nursery I made in this mountain was of 5,000 plants which I lost because I did not have much knowledge of this area, it is higher and colder. I was disappointed about the area. I worked with my father and made a nursery of 10,000 plants, with which we were very successful. He gave me 1,000 plants and I planted them in my plot. They grew very strong. This gave me reasons to keep seeding and expanding. In 1997 I met a beautiful girl from a family with very good principles. She is now my wife and mother of my three children, who are my pride. So I strive to be an exemplary father of whom they can be proud of. By 2001 my father had a 7 hectare farm and I had 1.75 hectares, we had good production but coffee prices declined. Revenues from the crop were not enough to neither support my family nor give proper maintenance to my farm. So I started to plant vegetables like onions, tomatoes and cabbage. I had a bad experience with these, such as that the onion harvest that I gave on credit to a buyer never paid me and I also lost the tomato harvest due to low temperatures. This left me in a very critical economic situation; I had run out of money. The only thing that I could count on was the coffee retention trust funds that were going to be delivered by The Honduran Coffee Institute. When my father told me that they were being handed out, I went to collected mine and decided to buy five quintals of fertilizer for the farm. With the rest, I went by myself to the city of San Pedro Sula to seek work in the textile industries. I soon found work and with that I was able to keep my family, who were still living on the mountain. I could also afford to maintain the farm, hoping that the coffee crisis will soon pass. I was working a 12 hour night shift from Sunday to Thursday each week and after that went straight back to the farm to pick coffee all day with my wife. I was saving on labor wages and was also able to save a little to build the house. At that time my fathers estate was already in production but he was getting older. It was hard on him working in the field. To access the property you have to walk half an hour an inclined and stony path. So he decided to start an agro-chemical product business in the small town of Las Vegas, Santa Barbara. Business grew so he decided he only wanted to manage that and sell the farm. It was a large sum of money which I did not have the capacity to pay. One day in 2007 he sent for me, and offered me something I never could have imagined. Since I lived near the farm he told me he wanted me to be the owner and that he would sell it to me, paying it off as I could. At first I hesitated a bit because the estate was virtually abandoned due to the poor prices in coffee. I knew it would take a lot to recover it, but my parcel which was next to it was in good condition and I was going to have a good harvest, coffee prices were rising, so I got my courage and took the farm. I started looking for help for the fertilizers and it was through the IHCAFE that I was able to fertilize that year. As of the Cup of Excellence project, I had heard of it but did not know what it was. I went to one of the trainings by an IHCAFE technician who agreed to visit my farm. He told me I had good conditions to participate in the Cup of Excellence, this was 2009. Then I got all the instructions about the crop harvesting, milling and drying process of coffee and participated for the first time. That year I was eliminated in the last stage. I was then continually advised on farm management, such as nurturing, pruning and improvement in drying. I made a solar dryer through the IHCAFE solar drying project which helped me improve the quality of my coffee. In 2010 I participated a second time and got third place in the competition. With the money I got, I paid some of my debt to my father. I felt very motivated to work with more dedication and I made a deal with Jesus Christ. I am a man with Christian principles and I promise Him that if I won a place in the Cup of Excellence in 2010, I would give part of the proceeds to the church. In 2011 I finally won first place, I also had made a promise, but this time I had promised to give 10% of the money made in sales to the church as a social projection. Well now I feel very happy and my family, especially my father, is very proud of me. Details of his family: The Tinoco-Mejia family consists of 5 people, the producer Oscar Edgardo Tinoco, his wife Nora Mejia and their three children Tinoco Jr., Jose Mauricio Tinoco and the youngest Lenin Tinoco, who suffers from a problem in his lower extremities which makes it difficult for him to walk in a normal way. He is currently being treated at the Telethon, the institution responsible for the rehabilitation of disabled people. What do you think is the secret of your success? I believe that my success is based on the having the discipline of a good processing mill and my faith in God. How does it feel to be the winner of the Cup of Excellence? I am very happy to be one of the winners. I have achieved my objective, which was something I aspired to from the moment I took over the farm and I’m grateful to God and the people I got advice and support from. His experience in Cup of Excellence: It is the third time I have participated in this event, participating for the first time in the year 2009 when I was eliminated during the process, in the year 2010 I participated for the second time and managed to get third place in the competition and now in 2011 I have achieved my goal of winning the first place.