Category: Miscellanea

357. Help wanted in Central America: Lead the response to coffee rust

2013-05-07 Comments Off on 357. Help wanted in Central America: Lead the response to coffee rust

At the conclusions of the First International Coffee Rust Summit in Guatemala last month, the noted coffee agronomist Peter Baker confided to me that he did not think the event answered the most important question: “The Beyoncé Question.” I was confused. He elaborated: “It’s a line from one of her songs: ‘Who run this mother?’” […]

339. The Coffeelands Portrait Project, #2

2013-03-04 Comments Off on 339. The Coffeelands Portrait Project, #2

On our Borderlands Coffee Project, we are working with more than 3,000 smallholder coffee farmers in the Andean highlands of Nariño in Colombia and the steamy Amazon lowlands of northern Ecuador.  The area in Ecuador where the project is working is a source of endless cultural fascination for me, home to three distinct groups of […]

335. Introducing The Coffeelands Portrait Project

2013-02-13 Comments Off on 335. Introducing The Coffeelands Portrait Project

CRS works with more than 35,000 smallholder coffee farmers in 12 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.  The Coffeelands Portrait Project will introduce you to some of them.  Today’s post explains the project’s origins and approach; today’s inaugural gallery features 10 gorgeous portraits of farmers participating in our Borderlands Coffee Project in Colombia. [slidepress […]

276. A light goes out in Guatemala

2012-05-28 Comments Off on 276. A light goes out in Guatemala

A light that burned brightly for nearly 50 years on the shores of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala has gone dark: Fr. Greg Schaffer of the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, died last week.  During nearly a half-century of committed ministry, Fr. Greg accompanied the mostly indigenous community of San Lucas Tolimán through a painful civil […]

270. Trapiche

2012-05-10 Comments Off on 270. Trapiche

Yesterday I spent a day in the field here in Colombia as part of the baseline study for our Borderlands Coffee Project.  The first farm we visited provided a very pleasant surprise — a rustic sugar cane press. I fondly recall first chewing on sugar cane more than 15 years ago as a volunteer in […]

269. Morning in Pasto

Comments Off on 269. Morning in Pasto

This week I am in Pasto — a small, vibrant city in the southern Colombian department of Narino, and the base of operations for our Borderlands Coffee Project.  There is a lot to like about Pasto: great people, a bustling downtown and a stunning setting — the city is slung against mountains that rise steeply […]

255. @coffeelands

2012-04-02 Comments Off on 255. @coffeelands

After nearly two and half years of the CRS Coffeelands Blog, and six years after Twitter’s social media revolution, we are boldly moving into the Twitter stream.  Hope you will follow us at @coffeelands  

239. Parlez-vous cafe?

2012-02-08 Comments Off on 239. Parlez-vous cafe?

My colleagues in the Democratic Republic of Congo are recruiting a French-speaking coffee specialist to direct a new CRS coffee value chain intiative in Eastern Congo.  For more information about the opportunity or to apply online, look here.

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