Cafe Livelihoods 2010-11 Yearbook by Catholic Relief Services

2010 - 2011 Yearbook

MĂŠxico

About CAFE Livelihoods

Guatemala El Salvador Nicaragua

Coffee Assistance for Enhanced Livelihoods (CAFE Livelihoods) is improving the lives of more than 7,000 smallholder farmers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua. The project, funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, works all along the coffee chain to boost productivity, improve coffee quality, expand the participation of smallholder farmer organizations in specialty coffee markets and increase coffee income. Sustainable coffee importer Cooperative Coffees and grassroots financial services pioneer Root Capital have joined forces with CRS under CAFE Livelihoods to provide specialized assistance to strengthen participating farmer organizations. CRS is pleased to introduce you to the CAFE Livelihoods project and participating farmer organizations through the 2010-2011 Yearbook. For more information about CRS and its work in coffee, visit coffee.crs.org.

Don Vicente, founding member of the El Pinal cooperative in El Salvador. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Cover: Coffee drying at ASOCAMPOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mill in Guatemala. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Increasing production Productivity is so low in many coffee-growing communities in Mexico in Central America that smallholder farmers are struggling to break even. They are caught in a trap of low productivity and environmental degradation and lack sufficient access to technical assistance, organic fertilizer and working capital for investments that will increase production volumes. In response, CAFE Livelihoods has worked to bring new areas into shade production, increase the density of existing coffee fields, replace aging coffee plants with new ones, and improve farming practices. The project has helped thousands of farmers adopt improved agronomic practices, created community-level enterprises that produce organic fertilizer and invested in nurseries that have grown more than 3.5 million new coffee plants.

The future of quality, Sololรก, Guatemala. Michael Sheridan /CRS

Producing organic fertilizer in Tacuba, El Salvador. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Improving post-harvest processing and quality CAFE Livelihoods is helping smallholder farmers get the tools and skills they need to meet the high and rising quality standards of specialty coffee buyers. This includes expanding access to appropriate post-harvest infrastructure and ensuring farmers have the ability to use new and improved technologies effectively. Thousands of farmers have expanded their access to wet milling and drying infrastructure with the support of the project. Many of these farmers are processing coffee for the first time, which means saving money on milling costs, taking greater control over the quality of their coffee, and creating new opportunities to capture added value. CRS has worked with participating farmer organizations to identify new technologies that can reduce the environmental impact of coffee processing without compromising coffee quality. Much of the wet-milling technology adopted with project support reduces water use, improves wastewater treatment or both. The project has also enlisted Fair Trade importer Cooperative Coffees to conduct field-level workshops, cup the coffee of participating farmer organizations and provide recommendations for adjustments on the farm or in the mill that can improve coffee quality.

A member of the APECAFE cooperative trains his palate at a workshop on coffee quality in San Salvador facilitated by the U.S. roaster Equal Exchange. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Our participation in the CAFE Livelihoods project has been a rewarding experience for Cooperative Coffees. With resources provided by this project, many of our longtime trading partners have finally built the infrastructure that they have long needed and renovated their aging coffee plots. Just as it takes many years to build strong trade relationships, this form of thoughtful long-term community development takes time. The long term commitment from CRS to walk with these communities is critical and in our experience rare. We are thankful to have been a part of the project and hope to continue collaborating with CRS in building simple systems and community knowledge that improves the quality and yield of the coffee harvest. Bill Harris Founder, Cooperative Coffees

Building stronger farmer enterprises CAFE Livelihoods has teamed up with Root Capital to improve the financial management capacity of participating farmer enterprises. Root Capital has implemented a comprehensive financial management program under the project. Root Capitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative approach combines basic financial literacy training for cooperative leaders with customized consulting services based on continuous needs assessments of participating farmer organizations. Participating cooperatives have made measurable improvements in their financial management capacity, which will improve their ability to sustain project gains and manage their businesses more effectively over time. Several cooperatives participating in the project expect to qualify for commercial loans for the first time during the 2011-2012 harvest.

Working with CRS on the CAFE Livelihoods project has been a great experience for Root Capital, and we look forward to continued collaboration. Coordinated technical assistance is an essential tool for small-scale farmer associations. Together, we've demonstrated the power of a well-integrated partnership and its potential to help organizations increase production, improve financial management, and build sustainable livelihoods. Willy Foote Founder and CEO, Root Capital

The Las Colinas cooperative in El Salvador has implemented traceability systems that allow it to differentiate its coffee and bring microlots to market. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

The coffees The CAFE Livelihoods project supports farmers in some of the most coveted coffee origins in Mesoamerica, including the indigenous highlands of Chiapas, the volcanic slopes of San Marcos and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, select microregions in western El Salvador, and Nicaragua’s celebrated Las Segovias region. Some of the coffees produced by CAFE Livelihoods partner organizations have been available in the U.S. market for many years. Others are still being “discovered” by U.S. roasters. Over the past two harvests, the project has facilitated new trading relationships and helped several cooperatives export their coffee for the first time to U.S. buyers, with new trading relationships set to begin with the 2010/11 harvest.

Harvest in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

First flowering, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

r o d a v l El Sa

Small is Beautiful Despite its small size, El Salvador encompasses a number of coffee regions with distinct growing conditions and cup profiles. CAFE Livelihoods works in El Salvador with more than 900 smallholder farmers, most of whom collectively manage mid-sized estates they acquired during the country’s land reforms in 1980. Collective harvesting, coordinated collection and centralized milling create unique opportunities for improve quality control, traceability and microlots. CAFE Livelihoods participants are concentrated in traditional coffee-growing regions in the western departments of Ahuachapán and Santa Ana, with several other organizations in the lesser-known highlands in the northern reaches of La Libertad. APECAFE, a second-tier organization, is the largest CAFE Livelihoods partner in El Salvador by volume, followed by the primary organization Santa Adeleida. Both offer certified coffees.

ORGANIZATION

APECAFE -El Pinal -El Salto -La Florida -La Fortuna -Las Colinas -Las Cruces -El Progreso Nejapa -Paso Carrera ASAPROT Cooperativa El Clavelito Cooperativa El Sincuyo Cooperativa La Concordia Cooperativa San Antonio Cooperativa San Rafael Cooperativa Santa Adelaida Cooperativa Santa Fe COPUXTLA

LOCATION

ALTITUDE RANGE (m)

San Salvador Jayaque, La Libertad Jujutla, Ahuachapán Nueva San Salvador, La Libertad San Julián, Sonsonate Tacuba, Ahuachapán Las Cruces, Santa Ana Tacuba, Ahuachapán Chalchuapa, Santa Ana Tacuba, Ahuachapán Tacuba, Ahuachapán Tacuba, Ahuachapán Tacuba, Ahuachapán Comasagua, La Libertad Tacuba, Ahuachapán Comasagua, La Libertad Tacuba, Ahuachapán San Pedro Puxtla, Ahuachapán

400-1500 900-1400 800-1200 800-1000 400-800 900-1400 900-1500 900-1400 400-800 600-750 600-750 800-1000 800-1000 950-1300 600-650 900-1250 600-750 650-900

# MEMBERS

VOLUME(69 kg sacks) CERTIFICATIONS

416 31 107 44 27 90 44 48 25 17 21 12 19 57 27 179 25 34

8144 723 1380 49 49 2116 1840 1775 210 53 39 30 138 3,286 43 7,230 269 657

FT and FT/O Fair Trade organic,Fair Trade organic,Fair Trade organic,Fair Trade organic,Fair Trade Fair Trade Fair Trade organic,Fair Trade ---organic ---

Las Cruces S A N T A A N A , E L S A LV A D O R

LAS CRUCES Asociación Coope rativa de Producc ión Agropecuaria Las Cruces Established: 198 0 Members: 57 Location: Las Cru ces – Chalchuap a, Santa Ana Elevation: 1110-1 450 m Volume: 1873 sa cks (69 kg) Certifications: Fair Trade Contact: Joél Ant onio Lucero + 503-2441-78 05 coop_las_cruces @yahoo.es

organic, Rainforest Alliance

--Michael Sheridan/CRS.

MAKING A NAME FOR OURSELVES We live on the northern slopes of the Ilamatepec Volcano in Santa Ana, arguably El Salvador’s finest micro-origin. During El Salvador’s 2010 Cup of Excellence, 22 of the 30 winning lots came from this part of the Sierra Apaneca. Our neighbors include some of the most celebrated estates in the coffee industry, but chances are you have never heard of us: the Las Cruces cooperative. Since 1980, we have provided our members with the basics – housing, electricity, water and help in times of need. We have also worked hard to boost the productivity of our 190 acres of shade coffee, and have managed to produce some exceptional coffees. In 2011, we hosted our first visit by a coffee buyer. More than 30 years after we started, we are finally beginning to make a name for ourselves in the specialty coffee industry. We want to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you.

Gua

a l a tem

ASOCAMP O

Cafés de Altura

T R A D I T I O N A L AT I T L Á N, G U AT E M A L A

With seven different growing regions producing distinctive high-altitude coffees, Guatemala has rightfully earned its p l a c e among the world’s leading coffee origins. The CAFE Livelihoods project in Guatemala directly supports five farmer organizations in three of the country’s most celebrated regions. APECAFORM is nestled between the Tacaná and Tajumulco volcanoes that give the “Volcanic San Marcos” region its name. Granja Juan Ana is a project of the parish of San Lucas Tolimán whose participants grow coffee at altitudes of up to 1800 meters on farms overlooking Lake Atitlán, the signature feature of the “Traditional Atitlán” region. The community development organization ACODEROL is based in Olopa, an emerging origin of fine coffees from the “New Oriente” region. Three of the organizations participating in CAFE Livelihoods offer certified coffees. The organizations participating in the project grow coffees that deliver the traditional characteristics of their respective regions, as well as some that offer more distinctive profiles.

APECAFORM Asociación de Pequeños Caficultores Orgánicos Maya-Mames Year established: 1994 Members: 465 Location: Tajumulco, San Marcos – “Volcanic San Marcos” Elevation: 1400-1800 m Volume: 3,286 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade

Cupping notes: Bright fruity acidity, sweet tobacco flavor, creamy body and a sweet, long-lasting finish with notes of cedar: 86 – U.S. importer.

LAND TO CALL OUR OWN Our organization has 111 members. We come from different parts of Guatemala. We dress differently. We speak different languages. But we do have some things in common: we were all landless before buying the La Florida farm in 2002, and we are working together to give our children what our parents couldn’t give us – land to call their own. Coffee is helping us do it.

APCASA

ASOCAMPO

Asociación de Productores de Café Santa Anita

Asociación Campesina Pochutense

Year established: 2010 Members: 117 Location: Santa Anita de la Unión, Quetzaltenango – “Volcanic San Marcos” Elevation: 1150-1400 m Volume: 789 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: Organic Cupping notes: Sweet floral aroma, fruit flavors with vanilla notes, light acidity and a sweet finish: 82.75 – U.S. importer.

ACODEROL Asociación para la Coordinación del Desarrollo Rural de Olopa Year established: 1997 Members: 450 Location: Olopa, Chiquimula – “Nuevo Oriente” Elevation: 780-1340 m Volume: 1,898 sacks (69 kg) Cupping notes: High acidity, with dark chocolate and peach notes: 80 – Specialty coffee broker.

GRANJA JUAN ANA

Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Year established: 1992 Members: 150 Location: San Lucas Tolimán – “Traditional Atitlán” Elevation: 1584-1700 m Volume: 862 sacks (69 kg) Cupping notes: Specialty coffee with extraordinary attributes, including intense berry aroma. Very good body, lasting finish. A highly complex coffee: 85.5 – Specialty coffee broker. Michael Sheridan/CRS. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Established: 2002 Members: 111 Location: San Miguel Pochuta – Chimaltenango, Guatemala “Traditional Atitlan” region Elevation: 1350-1600 m Volume: 283 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade Contact: Rufino Tum Xinico + 502-4678-6855 rufino@asocampo.com www.asocampo.com

Some of us were born into coffee, literally. More than a third of our members come from families that lived and worked year-round on La Florida when it was a private estate, in some cases for generations. Others among us come from coffee-growing villages scattered across the Guatemalan highlands. We all share a passion for coffee and the belief that it can help us make a new life for ourselves and our children. Our coffee is shade-grown and organic and something very special, indeed. We export it through Manos Campesinas and use what we earn to pay the debt we owe on the farm. But we don’t depend on coffee alone. We sell macadamias and peppers here in Guatemala, and export French beans. And we are working to create employment opportunities for members of our community – we have built a plant to process our French beans and several groups of women are starting handcraft businesses. We do all these activities as sustainably as possible: our coffee is certified organic, we power our mill and our school and our homes with hydroelectric power, and we work with the National Forest Institute to manage our forests and natural resources responsibly.

o c i x é M

OAXACA, MEXICO

Coffee and Cultural Survival

MAKING SURE OUR PAST HAS A FUTURE Our organization’s name tells the story of our diversity. MICHIZA is an acronym that reflects the names of all six of the indigenous groups to which our members belong: Mixteco, Mixe, Chinanteco, Chatino, Cuicateco and Zapoteco.

In Mexico, CAFE Livelihoods accompanies primarily indigenous coffee growers in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí. Maya Vinic is based in the highland Chiapan village of Acteal and comprised of Tzotzil-speaking indigenous people. The organization emerged in the aftermath of the Acteal Massacre in 1997, which claimed the lives of 45 members of the Las Abejas pacifist movement for social justice. Yeni Navan operates under the name Michizá, an acronym comprised of the first letters of each of the six ethnolinguistic groups that comprise its membership: Mixteca, Mixe, Chinanteco, Chatino, Cuicateco and Zapoteco. COCIHP is a coordinating body of indigenous farmer organizations in the Huasteca region of San Luis Potosí. For all three organizations, coffee represents a leading strategy for environmental conservation, economic sustainability and cultural survival.

Maya Vinic Unión de Productores Maya Vinic Year established: 1999 Members: 450 Location: Acteal and highland Chiapas Elevation: 1200-1800 m Volume: 3,429 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade Cupping notes: Sweet caramel from start to finish, with a hint of spice, creamy body and good balance: 85 – U.S. importer.

COCIHP Coordinadora de Organizaciones Campesinas e Indígenas de la Huasteca Potosina Year established: 1994 Members: 283 Location: La Huasteca, San Luis Potosí Elevation: 750 m Volume: 1,872 sacks (69 kg)

Yeni Navan - Michizá Year established: 1985 Members: 730 Location: La Mixteca, La Sierra and La Costa regions, Oaxaca Elevation: 600-1600 m Volume: 4284 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade

Cupping notes: Vanilla and almond, medium acidity: 79 – U.S. importer.

Cupping notes: A woody, spicy flavor with apricot notes and orange zest in the finish: 82 – U.S. importer. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Coffee has been an important part of each of our traditions for generations – a source of both income and cultural identity. Coffee has also brought us together. We have been working across ethnic and linguistic lines for more than 25 years to ensure that we can pass on to our children the coffee traditions that we learned from our ancestors. The challenges we face have changed over time. When we started MICHIZA back in 1985 with the support of the Catholic Church in Oaxaca, we were fighting against exploitation in the marketplace and working to build more equitable trading relationships. Today, the biggest threat to our future is low productivity. That’s why we have been working since 2009 on a renovation program that is replacing the coffee our grandparents planted with new trees that will be picked by our children. We have enlisted our trading partners, local government and aid organizations in our effort, and see it as the best way we can ensure that our past has a future.

5 de junio

a u g icara

MADRIZ, NICARAGUA

Sustainable Coffees The five smallholder farmer organizations participating in CAFE Livelihoods in Nicaragua share a commitment to coffee quality and certified “sustainable” farming and trading practices. Three offered Fair Trade Certified coffees during the 2010-2011 harvest, while the other two had been inspected by FLO-CERT and were pending certification. Four organizations also offered coffee with other “sustainable” certifications, including organic, Rainforest Alliance Certified, Utz Certified and C.A.F.E. Practices verified.

COFFEE WITH VISION

Together, the five organizations identified below offer high-quality coffees from Estelí, Madríz, Nueva Segovia, Matagalpa and Jinotega, including some of the country’s leading coffee origins. Jaime Molina, a member of the 5 de junio organization, took second place at Nicaragua’s 2010 Cup of Excellence competition and is currently providing peer-to-peer technical support to other coop members as part of a pulp natural pilot project in the community of Las Sabanas, Madriz.

unio

5 de j

CECOSPROCAES Central de Cooperativas de Servicios Múltiples Aroma del Café

Year established: 2004 Members: 600 Location: Jinotega Elevation: 700-1300 m Volume: 11,831 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: Fair Trade pending, organic T2

CECOSEMAC Central de Cooperativas de Servicios Múltiples Aroma del Café Year established: 2004 Members: 850 Location: Matagalpa and Jinotega Elevation: 800-1400 m Volume: 2,235 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade

CECOCAFEN

PRODECOOP

Central de Cooperativas de Café del Norte

Promotora de Desarrollo Cooperativo de Las Segovias

Year established: 1997 Members: 2,280 Location: Matagalpa and Jinotega Elevation: 700-1450 m Volume: 46,009 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade, C.A.F.E. Practices, UTZ

Year established: 1993 Members: 2,300 Location: Estelí, Madriz, Nueva Segovia Elevation: 1100-1300 m Volume: 18,246 sacks (69 kg) Certifications: organic, Fair Trade, C.A.F.E. Practices, UTZ

1 d: 200 e h s li b ucas, sta Year e s: 500 s and San L a er Memb : Las Saban n Locatio 7m Madriz : 811-164 (69 kg) n ks Elevatio 1,840 sac (Fair Trade : , e Volum tions: organic a Certific ) g pendin

The 5 de junio cooperative produces and markets organic specialty coffee because we believe it is the key to the development of our communities. We are confident in our vision, because our coffee embodies the best our communities have to offer, from the terroir of a coffee origin emerging as one of Nicaragua’s finest, to the generosity, hard work and environmental ethic of our people. The communities where we live and grow our shade coffee – Las Sabanas, San José de Cusmapa and San Lucas in Madriz, and Pueblo Nuevo in Estelí – are producing steadily more winning lots in Nicaragua’s Cup of Excellence. One of our members, Jaime Molina, has been a Cup of Excellence winner for three years in a row, placing second in 2010. Don Jaime and his family have shared their coffee processing methods with other members of the cooperative, fostering innovation in the name of quality. During the 2010/11 harvest, we implemented a successful pilot project for semi-washed or “honey” coffee based on new technologies we learned from Don Jaime. Our members have carefully documented their semi-washed processes in order to share them next year with their neighbors, and applied the same principles of hard work o the semi-washed process as we do to our standard wet-milling processes. We are seeking to develop new trading relationships with roasters who are as committed to quality as we are and share our vision of coffee as a vehicle for social development.

Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Innovations

Climate Change Generating information for adaptation CRS is helping CIAT – the International Center for Tropical Agriculture – bring its groundbreaking approach to climate change adaptation to the farmers who participate in CAFE Livelihoods. The collaboration, funded by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, is called CUP – Coffee Under Pressure: Climate Change Adaptation in Mesoamerica. Under CUP, CIAT generates projections of the likely impacts of climate change on coffee productivity and quality in the specific communities where CAFE Livelihoods is working, and brings this rigorous scientific evidence to smallholder farmers who would not normally have ready access to such information. CUP has also created a methodology to assess the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change. During 2011, CRS will help CIAT deliver the results of those assessments to participating farmers and begin to develop preliminary strategies to adapt to the likely impacts of climate change on coffee in their communities.

Coffee College Creating a sustainable training curriculum Most development projects include lots of trainings – classroom-based workshops and fieldbased demonstrations led by experts. Sometimes, the knowledge transferred through this approach can be lost if the coop leaders or farmers who participated in the trainings move or assume other responsibilities within their organizations. In Nicaragua, the CAFE Livelihoods team took a novel approach to increase the sustainability of its trainings: it worked with faculty from UCATSE – the Catholic University of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry of the Dry Tropics in Estelí – to develop a rigorous, accredited Coffee Diploma program. Two dozen cooperative leaders and farmers participating in CAFE Livelihoods earned diplomas during the program’s inaugural session in 2010 during 16 day-long weekend sessions covering the entire coffee chain. UCATSE’s Coffee Diploma, which will be offered again in 2011, aims to deliver best-inclass training opportunities to actors in Nicaragua’s coffee sector well into the future.

The end of the harvest, Jinotega, Nicaragua. Michael Sheridan/CRS

Honey Coffee drying. Las Sabanas, Nicaragua. Michael Sheridan/CRS

Working Capital Investing in the future of productivity

Honey Coffee Fostering innovation for quality In Nicaragua, CRS has put a grant from the Chuck and Ellen Haas Foundation to work complementing CAFE Livelihoods with a pulp natural pilot project for the 2010/11 harvest. The pilot provides funding for the construction of specialized post-harvest infrastructure for semi-washed coffee and technical assistance in the semi-washed process. Most importantly, it includes funding to purchase the coffee at a guaranteed minimum price of $2 per pound – a guarantee that reduces the risk to the farmer of innovation in the name of quality. If the participating farmers earn more than the minimum, the funds used to guarantee the purchase of the coffee will be reinvested to expand pulp natural production during the 2011/12 harvest.

The CAFE Livelihoods budget included $1.3 million for renovating aging coffee farms across Mesoamerica. In Nicaragua, CRS turned that onetime grant into farmer-managed revolving funds that have created a valuable source of working capital. Cooperatives have established their own credit policies – occasionally enlisting the support of the Root Capital consultants participating in the CAFE Livelihoods project – and extend support for coffee nurseries as credit. When funding is repaid, new loans are made to support continued renovation. This approach permits smallholder farmer organizations to provide some finance for critical farm renovation activities indefinitely.

Beyond Coffee: Diversifying farmer livelihoods Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been instrumental in making hunger in coffee communities a visible issue in the industry. From Central America to East Africa, CRS has been working with Green Mountain funding to help farmers in its supply chains reduce their vulnerability to hunger. On the ground in coffee communities, this collaboration has meant support for diverse activities: community-based savings and lending groups that help coffee farming families develop good financial management habits and save small amounts for a rainy day; technical assistance to diversify agricultural production to make more nutritious home-grown food available and increase income through the sale of agricultural products other than coffee; support for non-agricultural economic activities to reduce the inherent risk of agricultural activities in the age of climate change. What do all of these activities have in common? Each one reduces the vulnerability of coffee farming families to natural and economic shocks.

CRS has proven to be an invaluable partner in the fight against food insecurity in coffee communities, both in its advocacy work and in its work in communities where our coffees originate. CRS has helped generate awareness of the issue by speaking out on behalf of farming families. In addition, we have been impressed by the results of the CRS food security programs we have been supporting in Guatemala, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda. We value our relationship with CRS and look forward to collaborating on future initiatives to make a positive difference for small scale coffee farmers and their families around the world. Rick Peyser Director of Social Advocacy and Coffee Community Outreach Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Conveyer ready for storage, dry mill, Oaxaca, Mexico. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

Practical approaches to fighting hunger. While many in the coffee industry have responded to evidence of hunger in coffee communities with disbelief, or failed to see the problem of hunger as part of their business models, importer Sustainable Harvest has taken decisive action in search of solutions. “Food Security Solutions” was a four-day event held at Nicaragua’s Selva Negra estate in June 2010. It revolved around handson workshops in beekeeping, gardening, mushroom farming and organic fertilizer production – activities that have little to do with coffee but everything to do with the quality of life among smallholder farmers who grow coffee. CRS was pleased to provide technical and financial support to the event. Farmers involved in CAFE Livelihoods who participated in the event have already adopted in their own communities some of the lessons they learned during the event.

Coffee Communication Providing perspectives from the coffeelands Partnering with CRS helped Sustainable Harvest launch a new initiative to improve the food security of coffee-producing families. With expertise from CAFE Livelihoods staff, we designed "Food Security Solutions," a farmer training event focused on farm diversification for greater food security. Our collaboration with CRS brought greater benefit to the farmers in our supply chain, and financial support from CRS allowed many CAFE Livelihoods partners to participate in Food Security Solutions. David Griswold President Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers

Gardening workshop, Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

The CRS Coffeelands Blog went live in 2010, delivering news and photos from the CAFE Livelihoods project and field-level analysis of trends in specialty coffee markets. The blog has generated spirited and enlightening exchanges featuring thought leaders in the specialty coffee industry on issues ranging from Direct Trade to hunger to new business models. A few comments from the first year of the CRS Coffeelands Blog: “Your perspective - as a development person working in coffee - is extraordinarily valuable, especially for us coffee people who wind up involved in development!” – Peter Giuliano, Counter Culture Coffee “These blog entries are the best analyses on the development dynamics in coffee I have ever seen! Thanks for your immense contribution to this important conversation.” – Dean Cycon, Dean’s Beans “I appreciate your outlook and the stand for those without much voice.” – Daniele Giovannucci, Committee on Sustainability Assessment coffeelands.crs.org

Water Works

Wet-milling technology for the era of climate change CRS is helping smallholder farmer organizations adopt new and improved post-harvest technologies that reduce water use on the front end of the wetmilling process and reduce contamination on the back end. Farmers participating in CAFE Livelihoods have adopted a variety of new technologies and practices to reduce the volume of water used in the wetmilling process. In Guatemala, farmers at Santa Anita are now recycling the water they use in the depulping process for washing their coffee. In El Salvador, COMUS is harvesting rainwater for washing its coffee, reducing its reliance on scarce local water resources. Throughout El Salvador, farmer organizations are making wholesale changes in their wet-milling technology, adopting â&#x20AC;&#x153;ecopulpersâ&#x20AC;? that omit fermentation and washing and nearly eliminating water use altogether from what was until recently a water-intensive process. When there is practically no water used in the post-harvest process, there is little messy wastewater to treat. For cooperatives that still use water in the wet-milling process, CAFE Livelihoods has invested in wastewater treatment systems to reduce the environmental impact of their milling activities.

In El Salvador, CAFE Livelihoods is helping cooperatives swap their old wet milling practices for new water-efficient technologies. Michael Sheridan/CRS.

coffee.crs.org

Coffee farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Michael Sheridan/CRS.