Support for the production and marketing of specialty coffees in the Altos de Chiapas Mexico

Context of the service

Fondo Para la Paz (FPP) is a Mexican NGO created in 1994 to support marginalized rural indigenous communities in their political, economic and social development and integration process.
FPP has been working since 2013 in Pantelhó, a municipality marked by Zapatism and located in the Altos de Chiapas. Coffe production in agroforestry is the main source of income for local households. In the absence of high value-added markets, however, production is of low quality and provides low income.
In 2016, FPP embarked on a program to formalize coffee cultivation and open up new markets with a remuneration system that encourages the production of high-quality coffees, combined with (i) the dissemination of good quality management practices during coffee harvesting and primary processing, and (ii) improvement of production systems to increase yields and the product's final quality.

Services provided

This program was led by the expert, then working at Fondo Para la Paz. The activities carried out in this context were as follows:
(i) Complete diagnosis of the production, primary processing and sales circuits of 148 producers.
(ii) Establishment of a producer-to-producer training system for the transmission of good harvesting, selection and primary processing practices.
(iii) Establishment of a quality control and traceability system.
(iv) Formalization of producers' economic activity (opening bank accounts, registration of farms).
(v) Third-party evaluation of coffees produced according to the Alliance for Coffee Excellence standard: 100% of coffees produced in 2018 were recognized as "specialty coffees".
(vi) Support for the marketing of coffees (4.5 tonnes in 2018): 53% increase in selling prices and 23% increase in profitability in 2017.

Summary of the service

Development of the production and sales of specialty coffees in six indigenous communities in the Altos de Chiapas: Diagnosis of 148 smallholder producers' production processes, primary processing and sales circuit; Establishment of a producer-to-producer training system; Introduction of new selection and primary processing methods; Implementation of a local quality control and traceability system; Marketing support.