I wanted to share a bit about how important it is for small growers to have an association with coffee cooperatives in coffee producing countries, especially when many producers are small and vulnerable. While we were in Huehuetenango Guatemala, we visited Co-op Baluarte to learn more about cooperatives and how essential they are for small growers to exist.

The benefits to the growers involved with this type of organization are the variety of services offered. These services include micro-credit loans, project assistance, technical support for quality, and trading support among others. The key part of any coffee cooperative is that it must be sustainable. The only way to achieve this goal is by trading the coffee of its constituencies. The money coming out from this trade should cover administrative costs and a variety of programs, while also offering a fair price to the grower.

While there are many benefits to working with a cooperative, there are also problems that arise. For instance, growers could be tempted to sell their coffee to a ‘middle man’, who in turn doesn’t have product to fulfill the end users contracts. Without coffee to trade, the co-op could easily run out of the means and negotiation power leaving them no choice other than to cut services and projects.

In the Huehuetenango region, a new approach for a coffee co-op was built. This was enabled by the Italian Government through the Director General for Development Cooperation and with the participation of Slow Food Foundation.

In 2007, the Slow Food Foundation initiated a program called Presidium in Guatemala. It created a production protocol outlining coffee production above 1500 meters. There have been 150 producers involved in this project. The heart of this program relies on establishing a production protocol that guarantees taste and environmental and social quality of the final product, as well as empowering the coffee growers with skills and knowledge that would ultimately improve their living standards. The organization that held this program in Huehuetenango is called Comercializadora Baluarte.

When we visited one of the farmers involved with this co-op, we recognized the challenges of bringing these goals to a point of sustainability. For instance, most of the grower’s have small farms around 0.5 to 1.5 acres each, scattered around beautiful, but almost inaccessible hillsides. To reach the farms it takes around a half day driving on narrow, steep and sometimes impassable roads.
The challenge is big and almost unachievable if we think that millions of growers are still left behind without any assistance or help from local or international organizations. Nevertheless, we should praise the cooperatives that are making a difference in areas that haven’t received assistance yet.

I hope you like it... There is a lot of information regarding this topic but this is one life experience that I'd like to share..

Adios


Andres