Building bridges between Colombia’s smallholder coffee farmers and the European market

Colombia is the third-largest coffee producer in the world with more than half a million families living from its cultivation. In addition to its undeniable relevance for the national economy, coffee is cultivated in some of the most biodiverse ecosystems, linking it to important ecological values. According to the ITC (International Trade Center), the world drinks up to three billion cups of coffee a day, and this consumption is constantly increasing. While this trend should lead to improved market opportunities for its producers, the instability of green coffee prices combined with the environmental challenges derived from climate change, make it much less attractive for younger generations of Colombians to continue producing coffee. The highly complex distribution chains also mean that producers rarely receive the full benefits from the coffee sales. These conditions particularly affect small producers, who constitute more than 95% of coffee farmers in Colombia. In this context, sustainability certification addresses negative impacts of coffee cultivation on the natural environment and maximizes economic benefits for coffee growing communities by improving the competitiveness of coffee products and facilitating access to international markets.

4C certification and improved access to European markets

The 4C audit took place between the 2^nd and 6^th of November 2021 and 437 coffee growers representing 455 small scale farms successfully passed the audit and received the 4C certification. This key result promotes sustainable coffee production in the region, while also raising awareness for the conservation of primary forests and protected areas. It also strengthens the protection of human and labor rights, while fostering more efficient and profitable coffee production. After implementing the improvements to achieve 4C certification, the project beneficiaries were satisfied with the changes they observed on their farms. Walter Guevara, a coffee farmer from Cienaga municipality emphasized: “4C motivates us to conserve the environment and be more organized, which is perhaps something that we have not been doing very much, and above all, it motivates the young people to adopt these practices that are fundamental to conserve nature and to develop ourselves.”

At the beginning of this year, Melitta acquired a first shipment of traceable 4C certified coffee from the beneficiaries of this project at a premium price. Another purchase is expected during the next harvest period lasting from October 2022 to January 2023.  The level of premiums that these sales offer to local coffee growers provides a higher profitability, allowing them to cover their operational costs and generate an attractive income. This also enables them to maintain a high level of environmental protection that secures the future for coffee production in the region. The response of the project beneficiaries following the sale of coffee to Melitta was very positive. Alvaro Serrano, a coffee farmer from Cienaga Municipality, noted that “the price premium that the 4C proposal represents here is not offered by anyone else.”

Increasing the attractiveness of the sector for young adults

An additional focus of the project in 2022 is to improve opportunities in the coffee sector for young people in the community. From the end of March 2022, around 100 young adults will participate in an extensive course on promoting ecotourism activities in coffee plantations. The course is jointly organized with FNC and with the participation of ProColombia – a government agency in charge of promoting Colombian international tourism. It will run for around two months and consists of a series of in-person and online training sessions. Participants will be guided by experts from the tourism industry to acquire the necessary knowledge to develop, adapt and strengthen their own tourism business proposal to attract the interest of international markets. Among others, some topics to be covered are strategic business planning, storytelling, marketing, and costing.

Other activities for young adults are planned for this year and include trainings on barista skills, coffee tasting, and entrepreneurship. Young adults will also be supported financially to enable them to implement the learnings from the trainings. “I really like that 4C is motivating our rural youth who were discouraged from continuing with coffee growing and showing them that coffee can indeed be a profitable alternative, and that we ourselves can find a good price for it with the help of 4C certification,” said Diego Hernandez a coffee farmer from Santa Marta Municipality, located in the project region Magdalena.