OroVerde supports the cultivation of high quality coffee from local smallholder farmers in various regions of Guatemala. The coffee is traditionally shade-grown under timber and fruit trees in combination with a wide variety of other crops. This contributes to local food security and improves the livelihood of the smallholder families.
Furthermore, the cultivation of coffee in agroforestry systems is climatefriendly because of carbon storage and also provides important habitats for wildlife. The result is a high-quality coffee, with many positive effects for people and nature, which you can enjoy with a good feeling.
Within a collaboration project, funded by the European Union, the organisations ASOCUCH, APODIP and OroVerde are supporting co-operatives of small producers in the regions of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Sierra de las Minas and Bocas del Polochic in Guatemala in business capacity building and the commercialization of the products. ASOCUCH and APODIP serve as umbrella organisations providing com-prehensive experience in the close collaboration with smallholders, while the Tropical Forest Foundation OroVerde provides expertise in sus-tainable cultivation and biodiversity conservation and also supports the establishment of international contacts for commercialzation.
Plant your own coffee tree
Plant your own little coffee tree and watch it grow! To find out how to take care of it best, read the following planting instruction below!
Where does the coffee come from? Who are the producers?
Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Concepcion Huista (CODECH)
CODECH produces some of the best Fairtrade (FLO) & organic coffees not just in the department of Huehuetenango but in all of Guatemala. CODECH, established in 1998, represents 325 producers, organized in the two base cooperatives – ADIPY and ADAT– whos members belong to the Mayan ethnicities Popti, Mam, and Q’anjob’al. CODECH supports the local smallholder farmers produce and market their coffee and works closely together with clients on quality control and traceability. The exceptional altitude of the coffee growing area allows for a unique quality of the coffee.
- certification: Fairtrade (FLO), organic
- varieties: Bourbon, Catimor, Catuai, Caturra, Pache (verde, rojo)
- drying method: sun-dried
- cultivation altitude: 1.350-2.192 m
- cultivation area: 260 ha
- members: 125 women, 200 men
- harvest: 320 t/year
Flavour profile
The coffee is particularly well balanced and combines aromas of fine fruits- including the regional Huehue-blackberry- and flavourful chocolate, but can also appear delicate with elegant acidity and shades of drupes and citrus fruits.
contact: Juan Domingo
codechconce@yahoo.com
+502 31636067
Grow your own coffee tree…
- Before planting, the coffee bean can be kept in a wet cloth for several days. Afterwards the bean shall be placed about 1 cm deep in the soil (mixed with a bit of sand) and kept in a warm and humid environment.
- After germinating, the plant itself likes to have a bright and sunny spot but not too close to the window to avoid burning by sunrays.
- The soil shall stay rather dry than too moist. When the leaves start to hang, the seedling needs to be watered within the next two days. Always avoid water stagnation!
- As the coffee plant has a high demand of nitrogen and potassium, it requires additional fertilizing- in May to August once a week, in the rest of the year once a month.
- To clean the leaves from fine dust and free the pores, the plants needs to be sprayed with water- either once a year fully in the bath tub or several times with a hand-sprayer. The coffee seedling does not like temperatures below 5 °C or being exposed to cold wind.
So, enjoy watching your own little coffee tree grow!
Interested in other coffee producers from Guatemala?
Asociación Barillense de Agricultores (ASOBAGRI)
- Cooperativa Integral Agrícola Cocolense R.L .- Our coffee provides a fine sweetness with light citrus aromas. It shows a well-balanced acidity and a full body with shades of chocolate and grapefruit.
contact: Baltazar Francisco
balta.asobagri@gmail.com
+502 47683932
Asociación de Productores Orgánicos para el Desarrollo Integral del Polochic (APODIP)
Due to the process of drying the beans naturally and carefully in the sun, sweet, slightly fruity and fragrant aromas characterize the coffee from Polochic.
contact: Marvin Lopez
marvin@apodip.org
+502 5202421
Photography copyrights: OroVerde/ Anna Hömberg (Header, Slider fruit), OroVerde/ Michael Metz (Slider butterfly).
