“PROMOCIÓN DE LA PRODUCCIÓN Y EXPORTACIÓN DE CAFÉS ESPECIALES EN SIETE MUNICIPIOS DE CALDAS”

PROJECT SUMMARY

The program was executed with the aim to benefit more than 500 families with capacity to produce specialty coffees. The types of coffees proposed for the project were: De finca or Estate Coffee, Exotic, Regional and Organic from the studies and experience of the Caldas Coffee growers committee. In the course of the project there was the possibility to include 2 more localities, to a total coverage of nine municipalities form the Caldas department. This way, the development of the optimum region’s potential generates the adding value to the productive process of the specialty coffees bringing training, research, encouragement and better incomes to the families and communities that find in coffegrow their better mean of subsistence. The program motivated a new mentality in businessmen/women of quality, efficiency and excellency, that generates the support to the economy of a zone and region, from the positives impacts and changes that will stimulate other sectors of the regional economy from the improvement of the quality and excellency of the produced coffee. The activities that took place to execute the project were:
 

• Analysis of simples per farm
• Workshops of coffee quality and cup tasting.
• work for coffee growers (field days, tours, meetings, etc)
• Experience overview
• Definition of potential martkets
• Workday of discussion for the programs formulation
• Participation on the international Coffee fairs (Boston, Atlanta)

OBJECTIVES

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

To design and set on work a program with regional characteristics that contributes to the strengthening of the production and exportation of specialty coffees in seven municipalities of the caldas department, in such way that it improves the incomes of more than 500 coffegrower families.

ESPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

• To improve en two years the quantitative aspects (production volume and permanency, employment, rentability) and qualitative (bean size, broca, plagues, rate, especial characteristics) in the specialty coffee production of seven Caldas municipalities.
• To produce specialty coffees (organics) that favours the protection of the natural resources and the environment.
• To increase the world Wide competence of the Caldas specialty coffes from the certification of the product, fair participation and the increase of the exportations.
• To contribute the improvement of life conditions of more than 500 coffee growers from seven municipalities of the department, through an overpricing on the bean sale and a rise on the employment.

COFINANCIERS

The resources to finance the project come from contributions from different parties. Is this how the linked economically to the project:

• FOMIPYME-MINDESARROLLO
• NATIONAL FEDERATION OF COFFEE GROWERS FROM COLOMBIA (COMMIETEÉ DEPARTMENT OF COFFEE GROWERS FROM CALDAS)
• COFFE GROWERS COOPERATIVES
• COFFE GROWERS

WHAT ARE THE SPECIALTY COFFEES?

The program of Specialty Colombian Coffees from the National Federation of Coffee Growers from Colombia, defined them in the following way:

“are those coffees valued for consumers for their consistency attributes, verified and sustainable and for which they are willing to pay superior prices that redundant in a wider wellbeing of the producers.”.

The ranges of specialty coffees include high quality coffees, which could be from individual origin or from blends, flavoured coffees, and coffees with traditions or history. With the boom in the market for this type of coffee, the term specialty coffee has become in a generic name that includes a grate variety of products, that might receive overprice over other coffees, or that are perceived as different from other common coffees.

TYPES OF SPECIALTY COFFES PROMOTED BY FOMIPYME

For the project sponsored by FOMIPYME, the 4 type of specialty coffees that were work on:

Regional coffee:

Coffees that come from an specific region, known for it`s particular qualities. They are offered to the consumer on their pure state without blends with other products form other origins. These coffees need a high quality standard.

Exotic coffee:

Coffees with unique flavour characteristics, which are grown in micro weather, agro ecological and social-cultural conditions fully delimited geographically.

Estate Coffee:

Coffees which come from a farm that has productions superior to 500 bags of 60 kilos per year and that meet up the most rigorous quality standards.

Organic Coffee:

These are coffees which are grown without the use of agro chemicals, or chemical fertilizers. They are commercialized with a certification issued by a specialized firm, in charge of inspecting and watch out the crop practices, their grind process, storage and transport.

REALIZED ACTIVITIES:

To accomplish with the objectives, there were considered four stages that were going to be realized during the two years duration of the project. The first included the program’s design and the sensibly of the coffee growers, the second –the execution- would depend on the results of the first stage and in a close way would be executed the systematization, follow up and experience evaluation.

Design:

For the design stage was preview a three month duration to realized specific activities of institutional preparation and the target population:

i. a simple análisis of each of the 564 farms that Hill participate in the program to count with the diagnosis information about the quantitative and qualitative aspects to improve and determine the changes needed to turn the produced coffee in these farms into specialty coffees. This activity will take place twice a year by the coffee culture cooperatives

ii. The realization of 19 workshops on coffee quality, cup tasting and coffee benefit to groups of 30 coffee growers, that consisted on training them in tasting with the aim to teach them recognize the main defects on their own coffee.

iii. The realization of 12 training journals with groups of 30 coffee growers to give them the knowledge of the program goods and the production of specialty coffees over the conventional ones.

iv. The exhausting revision of specialty coffee’s experiences on a local, national, and international level.

v. the studies consultant of merchandizing to define the potential markets and its behaviour in time and identify segments for the specialty coffees produced in Caldas.

vi. The realization of discussion journals during the three months that will last the programs design stage in which experts will intervene from the Coffee Growers Committee, from Cenicafe , from the coffee culture cooperatives and a representative group of coffee growers that will participate from the program.

vii. The program’s document redaction and the production model of the three specialty coffee types that would be produced, and its socialization with all the actors involved in ti.

Execution:

The program`s execution consisted in five activities that part from the induction of the coffee growers to the program to the farms certification, promotion and foment of the program.

i. the induction consisted in 12 meeting  made in 30 coffee growers groups to give them the knowledge of the Basic concepts of the specialty coffees production, the program objectives and its own benefits.

ii. The training and the technical and agronomical support for the producers were oriented by an equipment of six field promoters with the support of the extension municipality coordinators and the coffee growers’ extension. In the producers of organic and exotic coffee case, the trainings were given by intern villages’ tours, while the estate coffee producer had personalized visits and individual training. Also were made method demonstrations for each one of the three producers’ types. The training themes turned around the coffee benefits, Broca management, vegetal sanity, renovation, coffee quality, cup tasting, grind and storage and organic management of the land in the caser of the organic producers. In this stage was estimated to execute 88 journals of training and technical assistance to 30 producers groups, but taking count that the technical assistance  is a permanent activity and for which should be done during thew whole production stage in such a way it would resolve soon the different difficulties or demands that the producers have.

iii. The certification gestation of organic coffee with international organizations for 30 coffee growers groups taking count the grade of development and advance that had the production of this kind of coffees.

iv. The realization of this kind of coffee tasting tests selected in each farm to characterize the different types of specialty coffees and produce physical analysis, sensorial and organ related in order to measure the grade of improvement in the grain characteristics.

v. The promotion and fomentation of the specialty coffees, through the participation on the World fairs that take place every year in the United States, with the purpose of showing the best experiences that suggest in the production process, identify the key points of the markets and establish commercial relations.

Documentation and evaluation:

The program’s documentation and evaluation, belongs to the third stage made in a permanent way, along with the program development. This activity refers to the evaluation and documentation of the respective production models of specialty coffees y was understood as that which would allow regaining and accumulating the knowledge that would generate the experience, in a way that could be copied out to other regions in the country. The current evaluation is a component of it.

Follow up and control:

The program’s follow up and control included the observation, registration and systematization of the shores and activities in terms of the used resources, the goals established, the accomplishment of the commitments on behalf of the parties involved and the types of execution of the financial resources.

The control was formulated on the technical and financial level. The first wanted to look after the accomplishment of the technical specifications and to control the accomplishment of the process executed on the formulated. The second should watch over for the financial parties’ were destined to the activities that were programmed. To execute this labours, was planned the creation of a Technical Control Committee, conformed by the executive director of the Caldas Coffee Growers Committee, and a FOMIPYME representing, the extension service coordinator, a manager of one of the cooperatives involved and two producers who represented the rest of the coffee growers involved in the program. This committee had the responsibility of analyzing and approving the designed program, elaborate a follow up and control system, to approve the informs presented by the program director every three months and watch out and guaranty the correct execution of the resources and the accomplishment of the activities.

Accomplishments:

To insurance the coffee culture sustainability and the families that have the coffee crops as their only mean of sustain is necessary to introduced an extra value to the productive process besides of giving broader training, research and stimulate the producers that results in better incomes and for which in the improvement of their life quality. For that is necessary to prepare these communities to become business people focused in quality, efficiency and excellence, and this way to generate a long lasting positive impact throughout time. With the production of specialty coffees is seek not only to improve the incomes for the coffee growers involved in the process but also to produce a positive impact in the local, regional and national economy.

In a short term, the coffee grower of specialty coffee producer and his/her family improve their income and life conditions from the over pricing received and in the particular case of the organic producers is generated the decrease of production spends due to among others the use of organic fertilizers for the crop. In the middle and long term it strengthens their coffee culture through the following of the processes and an adequate agronomic management, aspects which guaranty the production of excellent quality coffees. Equally the producer strengthens his/her process on taking decisions from the knowledge acquired on the different training activities.

The appropriate production on specialty coffees is a direct and indirect employment source once the quality and sustainability of the product is certified as it guaranties in certain way the permanence of the coffee company in the market. The integral sustainability of the land favours the protection of the natural resources and the environment by the use of clean technologies. The organic coffee culture fully uses renewal resources, activity which foments and intensifies the biotic soils within the system, increasing on the long term the fertility of the soils and keeps the genetic diversity of the system and its surroundings.

As conclusion, the specialty coffee production seeks to improve the life conditions of the producers through the improvement of their income besides of giving knowledge and foment practices that promote the environment protection and coffee quality.