Farmlevel Nursery Project

Farmlevel Story

The Challenge: Coffee producers across the globe are experiencing multifaceted challenges including climate change, the global coffee price crisis, and the push for low quality, industrialized varieties of coffee. These challenges have significant implications on the lives of coffee growers, the environment, and the quality of coffee in your cup. 

Our Response: We started a nursery in the remote region of Urrao, Colombia to distribute high-quality coffee seedlings to the smallholder farming families that make this region a coffee frontier. The nursery will support the growth of high quality, endemic varieties in the region which will lay the foundation for a stronger, more valuable local supply chain. For specialty coffee producers, a coffee’s cup quality (AKA flavor profile) is essential for their access to differentiated and profitable markets. Just like apples have an array of varieties and tastes (for example Granny Smith vs. Fuji), the variety of coffee has a direct impact on the final taste of the coffee.

To begin, the nursery will generate 60,000 new seedlings of an endemic variety that promises excellent cup quality and substantial yields called Caturra Chiroso. The seedlings will be distributed to 23 producer partners for the establishment of new plots of coffee, and in some cases, as replacements for lower-quality hybrid plots. Access to these new coffee seedlings is an economic jumpstart for these remote producers. While their remote geographic location creates logistical challenges, the extremely high elevation and fertile land shows great promise for world-class coffee and a bright future for smallholder producers in the face of climate change.   

The Future: With the knowledge gained from the Nursery Project in Colombia, we will expand to other locations implementing this model. Next up, Honduras!