Past Projects: Americas

Support for Sustainable Coffee Production of Organized Small Coffee Farmers
10/2001 – 09/2005

The project in Alta Verapaz was one of the first projects implemented by the International Coffee Partners (ICP). The activities were dedicated to the mostly indigenous communities and supported around 500 coffee farmers and their families.

ICP promoted the use of washing stations financed by the European Union, to thereby produce high quality parchment coffee according to sustainable coffee production guidelines. In addition, the farmers were offered managerial support and training in the organization of the production process and marketing, environmentally sound business practices and rigorous quality control. Other important components were diversification into additional products, such as sustainable forestry and the close cooperation with women´s groups to help them produce marketable handicraft.

Find out more about the project and download the final report here.

Sustainable Coffee Production and support of Community Development
10/2001 – 06/2004

The overall objective of the project was to improve and help farmers to introduce sustainable practice in the coffee production of San Juan, Intibucá – Honduras. The project started in September 2001 for a three year period with support from International Coffee Partners during which the focus was placed on supporting farmers to become organized and introduce integrated coffee production systems. The project was prolonged for one year and a half.

The project in San Juan helped establish a farmer organization with a professional structure, technical and management skills and the required infrastructure to become a reliable commercial partner in the coffee market. The coffee production systems have been transformed into sustainable schemes through adequate practices. Social micro-projects helped to improve living conditions with regard to housing, health and education. Community groups assessed their situation, collectively defined the priorities to be addressed and actively contributed to these initiatives.

Find out more about the project and download the final report here.

Small-scale farmers establishing their own agro-industrial company
12/2002 – 11/2005

The objective of this project was to raise coffee quality and productivity while promoting the production and processing of other products, such as tropical fruit. The key component in conducting sustainable business operations was to establish a farmer owned company. The acquisition of land titles provided collateral for financing operations for the farmers’ agro-industrial business. Furthermore, the objective of the project was to increase income and contribute to raise the standard of living of coffee farmer families in the Los Cacaos Valley through sustainable development

Find out more about the project and download the final report here.

Developing sustainable perspectives for producers of high quality coffee
09/2004 – 11/2007

The overall project objective of the project was to improve the living conditions of coffee smallholder families in Jaén, San Ignacio and Bagua through a sustainable and quality coffee production. About 250 small scale producers and their families were directly involved in the project activities, whereas over 6500 people and their families in the region benefited indirectly.

The project started in September 2004 for a three year period with support from International Coffee Partners (ICP) during which the focus was placed especially on quality improvement, quality mapping, integrated coffee production systems and quality assurance system. In a prolongation of 3 months, the focus was placed on Farmer Field Schools to firmly establish know how transfer, soil analysis to prepare a regional fertilization plan and good management practices at farm level.

Find out more about the project and download the final report here.

Enhancing managerial capacities at farmer level
09/2005 – 09/2008

The project in the Huila region in Colombia implemented a comprehensive farmer-to-farmer training scheme, enabling the participants to independently learn from one another. The addressed topics included a wide range of proper production, harvesting and processing practices as well as farm management. Next to this, the improvement of processing infrastructure at farm level was accompanied. Farmers’ organizations have been strengthened in terms of leadership and opening up new business opportunities, Farmer Promoters were prepared to become key players in promoting sustainable coffee production. In addition, farms have reached certification according to different programs.

Find out more about the project and download the final report here.

Sustainable Coffee Production around conservation areas
10/2006 – 09/2009

The aim of the project for “Sustainable Coffee Production around Conservation Areas in Copán and Lempira, Honduras” (Proyecto de Caficultura Sostenible II – PCS II) was to improve the living conditions of coffee farmers and their families in the project region.

Through the project the competitiveness of coffee farmers was improved while comprehensive support was provided to introduce sustainable practices. Technical and management capacity were established on the individual farmer and farmer organizational level. Also the project promoted better linkage of the farmers to the market. A specific focus of this project was the integration of sustainable coffee production with effective protection of conservation areas and watersheds, an issue which is of strategic importance for Central America and its Biocorridor as a whole. The project built upon the positive experience of the Sustainable Coffee Project PCS I, which has been supported by ICP in San Juan, Intibucá – Honduras.

Sustainable Coffee Production and support for community development
07/2007 – 06/2010

The aim of the project was to improve the economic, social and environmental conditions of the coffee farming communities in the Trifinio area. In the upper watershed of the Rio Lempa, a direct interaction between coffee production and water can be found. It is an important coffee growing region, producing potentially high quality coffee while being of extreme importance for the water supply of the lower San Salvadorian regions. More than 65% of the water supply of San Salvador is provided by this watershed. Therefore, proper management and preservation is extremely important. The beneficiaries in this area receive technical support and training in order to protect natural resources, increase productivity, improve coffee quality, control production costs and organize themselves in producers associations.

Sustainable Coffee Production in Lake Atitlán & Boca Costa
10/2008 – 11/2012

The vision of success of the project was to improve the livelihoods of 600 farmers and their families in the Lake Atitlan and Boca Costa regions as well as their living conditions through increased value creation in coffee based production systems. The overall objective of the project was to improve the income of project farmers through the application of best practices at the field and organizational levels.

The project focused on improving farm management, inadequate environmental management practices, inappropriate waste (water) management, weak organizational structures, lack of business understanding and financial literacy at farm and organizational level, few marketing channels and lack of access to credits.

Sustainable Coffee Project in São Francisco de Paula
05/2009 – 08/2012

The objective of the project was to contribute to increased income of small-scale coffee farmers in Minas Gerais through the support in sustainable coffee production to improve productivity and quality. Furthermore, the project focussed on organizational development and capacity-building in commercialization and marketing to establish better market access for coffee farmers.

Sustainable Coffee Production in Trifinio – Phase I
10/2009 – 09/2014

The Trifinio Region is located in the tri-border area of three countries: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. This region is ecologically unique, and considered as one of the world’s hotspots in terms of biodiversity.

The overall aim of the project was to improve the economic and environmental conditions and to develop the social aspects within the coffee regions. Focussing on the area of the Rio Lempa, the project implemented sustainable coffee practices, encompassing aspects focussing on the production of a high quality product, on environmentally sound practices and on improving the living conditions. Furthermore, the project focused on strengthening of farmer organizations while improving their productivity at a trinational level.

Promoting Organized Farmers
10/2010 – 11/2016

The objective was an increased flow of income to the project region, which contributes to improved livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the provinces of Lamas, Moyobamba y Rioja in the department of San Martín. The first phase of the project was an important learning on how to work in such environment and laid a good basis for the second phase.

Download Final Report Phase I

Download Final Report Phase II

Empowering small-scale coffee farmers for global markets and climate change resilience

12/2012 – 08/2016

The overall objective of the project was to contribute to increase the incomes of small-scale coffee farmers in Minas Gerais. The project activities included training to enhance the productivity and quality of coffee yields. The project also aimed to strenghten organizational development. The project supported farmer families and their organizations to improve their bulk marketing. This was accompanoed by the commercialization of coffee into markets of higher value than the local markets. Furthermore, the project provided training on climate change adaptation practices.

Sustainable Coffee Production in Trifinio – Phase II
10/2014 – 12/2019

The project phase, implemented between 2014 – 2019, focused on youth empowerment and the development of institutional training and support within the sector, including the establishment and strengthening of the coffee round-table, the Mesa de Café de la Region Trifinio (MCT). The MCT is a multi-stakeholder platform for all actors within the coffee value chain, including producers, farmer organizations, the three national coffee institutes of each country and the Trifinio Commission. The overall objective was to improve the economic, environmental and community conditions of the coffee growing regions in the upper catchment area of the Rio Lempa.

Promotion of productive and entrepreneurial strategies to increase the sustainability of coffee producers and their families in Minas Gerais
01/2017 – 12/2020

The objective of the project was to increase the sustainability and incomes of coffee farming families and their farmers organizations.