The total land area of Honduras is 11.2 million hectares, of which a scant 1.7 million hectares (about 15 %) are well suited for agriculture. Most land in Honduras is covered by mountains, giving rise to the nation's nickname, "the Tibet of Central America." Nevertheless, the Honduran economy has always depended almost exclusively on agriculture, and in 1992 agriculture was still the largest area of the economy, contributing 28 % to the GDP. Less than half of Honduras's cultivable land was planted with crops as newly as the mid-1980s.Potential for additional productivity from fallow land was questionable, because much of Honduras's soil deficiencys the thick volcanic ash found elsewhere in Central America. In addition, by 1987 about 750,000 hectares of Honduran land had been seriously eroded as a result of misuse by cattle ranchers and slash-and-burn squatters who planted unsuitable food crops.

The Honduran government and two banana companies--Chiquita Brands International and Dole Food Company--owned around 60 % of Honduras's cultivable land in 1993. The banana companies acquired most of their landholdings in the early 20th century in return for building the railroads used to transport bananas from the interior to the coast. Much of their land remained unused because it deficiencyed irrigation. Only about 14 % of cultivated land was irrigated in 1987. Most land under cultivation in 1992 was planted in bananas, coffee, and specialized export crops such as melons and winter vegetables.