Mateo Yibrin

Sweet Sustainability

Thirsty work

Sugarcane farming takes up more than 60 million acres of land worldwide – more than 150 times the area of Greater London. But growing sugar isn’t all sweet. As one of the world’s thirstiest crops, farming the plant has a significant impact on many environmentally sensitive regions from Southeast Asia’s Mekong River Delta to the Atlantic forest of South America.

Yet Honduran entrepreneur, Mateo Yibrin, CEO of Grupo Cadelga, an agro-industrial business group producing 30% of the sugar consumed in Honduras, is proof that the sweet white grains can be produced in sustainable ways.

The sweet taste of sustainability

The Yibrin family acquired their first sugar mill 30 years ago, quickly becoming one of the most productive mills in Central America. Together with their second mill in Chumbagua, they produce 1.6 million tons of sugarcane over 12,600 ha. With sustainability in their nature, the Yibrin family are leaders in the adoption of biosolutions in Honduras. Having embraced UPL’s exclusive ProNutiva program, they’re integrating biosolutions with conventional inputs to ensure higher yields with fewer residues.

Mateo’s repertoire of UPL’s sustainable inputs is growing. He will soon be adopting Zeba on his drip irrigated farm, our climatesmart approach to managing water consumption, improving yield and reducing water leaching. If like Mateo, all global sugarcane cultivated adopted Zeba as part of their sustainable usage strategy, water savings would be equivalent to 17 trillion litres.

A better way

Burning sugarcane fields to dispose of crop residue is a common and harmful practice among farmers. While many still believe this to be a cost-efficient way to clear land for new plantations, Mateo is adopting burn-free harvesting practices. This protects both human and environmental health from air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the depletion of soil nutrients and microbial life – a life-changing outcome for surrounding communities and environments.

Sustainable finance

Mateo recognises that a more sustainable food system must bring economic resilience to farmers. Looking to alleviate challenges for farmers in accessing financial services, he launched AgroMoney, the first microcredit package of its kind in Central America.

Farmers receive loans in the form of fertilisers, seeds and irrigation technology which they pay back at competitive interest rates similar to those in the formal banking sector. Mateo’s innovation is helping to drive the farming sector into a sustainable future we’re proud to be a part of.