There was a time in America when you could ride out west, find some land, clear a patch, grow your crop, and support your family. You could try that now, but you'd spend a good chunk of time in court fighting with Ted Turner . That kind of landed freedom still exists in la Mosquitia . For generations, along the Rio Patuca and elsewhere, farmers have staked out small parcels of land for fincas - small individual plantations.
Most people grow granos basicos - beans, rice, corn.
Recently, prices for cacao have gotten high enough that a few acres of these chocolate seed trees can prove bastante lucrative. For ten years, Mopawi 's Proyecto de Cacao Organico has provided assistencia technica - a bridge to the scientific and professional sides of farming, the world beyond la Mosquitia. For this tropical region, cacao is an ideal crop because it yeilds fairly constant harvests, and it can be grown with other plants. As twilight fell on a casual crossroads in Awas, one farmer, Antonio, says that it is safe to expect 1500 pounds, or 15 quintales of cacao seeds per manzana per year. These seeds are dried in the sun for three days, mashed into a paste, and either delivered that way, or cooked up into a block.