Coffee
We Work
Thoughts
Projects
Portal
Issues
Despite good production levels, income from coffee for these families had dropped to unsustainable levels in recent years. They faced a crossroad; either find alternative means of income outside coffee, or find a more stable and sustainable market.
During these discussions we heard farmers describe their core challenges: a lack of key infrastructure; and lack of stable prices to provide certainty for investments that could improve quality. Conversations also showed a wide gap between how coffee quality is discussed and measured at the farm level, compared with the roasting end of the value chain.
High cost of production
As a producing country, Colombia’s developed coffee infrastructure means there is less need for the large scale investments that we are involved with in countries such as Timor-Leste and Burundi. The smallholders we work with in Colombia cultivate and fully process their own coffee, selling it as dry parchment.
The incurred costs of processing and drying their own coffee means a higher cost of production in Colombia, when compared to countries where producers sell cherry to a wet mill or washing station. Likewise, coffee trees are highly cultivated and farms intensively managed in Colombia, this further increases the cost of production through added cost of labour and agricultural inputs.
Colombia has a high average output per hectare, but this comes at the costs associated with mono-cropping and high-input farming techniques.
We seek to shift the power dynamic in the coffee sector; as specialty becomes a norm, there are new opportunities for women to gain higher-income and higher-powered roles.
Given the different social and cultural dynamics in the rural areas of Colombia, women have faced multiple barriers to positions of leadership in their own communities and family businesses. In spite of this, women’s work is essential to the sustainability of the coffee supply chain. And though this is commonly understood, many women struggle immensely to achieve management roles, or appreciation for their efforts.
Given the different social and cultural dynamics in the rural areas of Colombia, women have faced multiple barriers to positions of leadership in their own communities and family businesses. In spite of this, women’s work is essential to the sustainability of the coffee supply chain. And though this is commonly understood, many women struggle immensely to achieve management roles, or appreciation for their efforts.
We seek to help to shift the power dynamic in the coffee sector; as specialty becomes a norm, there are new opportunities for women to gain higher-income and higher-powered roles.