Current Coffeelands Projects

BRAZIL

COFFEE FARMWORKERS PROJECT

2013-2015

CRS has joined forced with allies in the marketplace, including roasters, certifiers and trade associations, and a long-time partner in Brazil on a special initiative to better understand the conditions of coffee farmworkers in the country with the strongest farmworker protections in the Americas.

Funded by CRS, Equal Exchange, Fair Trade USA, Farmer Brothers Coffee, Keurig Green Mountain, Mars Drinks, Specialty Coffee Association of America, United Farm Workers, UTZ Certified.

COLOMBIA

BORDERLANDS COFFEE PROJECT

2011-2016

The Borderlands Coffee Project is helping smallholder farming families in the border region of Nariño boost household income through improved yields, increased cup quality, enhanced organizational capacity and expanded access to specialty markets. In Colombia, the project features partnerships with research institutions (International Center for Tropical Agriculture, World Coffee Research), specialty coffee industry leaders (Atlas Coffee, Counter Culture, Intelligentsia, Keurig Green Mountain, Stumptown, Sustainable Harvest), and public-sector allies (Government of Nariño) to drive social impact at origin and ensure the continuity of project activities after it closes in 2016.

1,600 families

Funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

KIVU SPECIALTY COFFEE: KAHAWA BORA YA KIVU

2012-2016

Kivu Specialty Coffee is a value chain project in the conflict-affected Kivu region of eastern Congo, help improve productivity, increase cup quality, strengthen farmer organization for the marketplace and foster new trading relationships between smallholder growers and quality-focused coffee buyers in the United States and Europe. CRS is partnered on Kahawa Bora Ya Kivu with Eastern Congo Initiative, the non-profit founded by actor Ben Affleck.

3,518 families

Funded by CRS, Eastern Congo Initiative, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and USAID.

ECUADOR

BORDERLANDS COFFEE PROJECT

2011-2016

The Borderlands Coffee Project is helping smallholder farming families boost household income through improved yields, increased cup quality, enhanced organizational capacity and expanded access to specialty markets. In Ecuador, the project is working in the northern Amazon with farmers growing Robusta-variety coffee.

1,500 families

Funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

EL SALVADOR

BLUE HARVEST

2014-2016

Blue Harvest is a three-year program coordinated by Catholic Relief Services that expands the Global Water Initiative (GWI) in Central America to manage water resources through funding from Keurig Green Mountain. The project will focus on restoring and managing water resources. Its goal is sustainable management of water resources for people in the coffeelands of Central America. The project is working at all levels of the supply chain to make water a central issue to the sustainability of coffee production and processing. In El Salvador, the project works in three areas: Arambala in the Cordillera Cacahuatique in the eastern department of Morazán, Comasagua in the Cordillera del Bálsamo, and Jujutla in the Cordillera Apaneca in the traditional coffee-growing western highlands, and.

2,000 direct beneficiaries; 39,000 indirect beneficiaries

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

FROM COFFEE TO CHOCOLATE

2013-2017

This project aims to help coffee farmers in lower elevations—severely affected by coffee leaf rust and vulnerable to reductions in the suitability of their landscapes for coffee due to climate change—to diversify through planting cacao. This includes trials with managing systems that have both coffee and cacao planted.

500 farmers

Funded by Howard G. Buffett Foundation

ETHIOPIA

A RICHER BLEND: LIVELIHOODS DIVERSIFICATION FOR SMALLHOLDER COFFEE FARMERS

2010-2015

This project is part of a suite of food security projects funded by Keurig Green Mountain in the coffeelands of East Africa. In Ethiopia, “A Richer Blend” seeks to improve food security outcomes by optimizing the mix of economic and productive activities undertaken on the farm. It promotes farm diversification for the market (cash crops) and household consumption (high-nutrient foods), basic household nutrition, and community-based savings and lending groups to increase food security and resiliency.

1,500 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

GUATEMALA

BLUE HARVEST

2014-2016

Blue Harvest is a three-year program coordinated by Catholic Relief Services that expands the Global Water Initiative (GWI) in Central America to manage water resources through funding from Keurig Green Mountain. The project will focus on restoring and managing water resources. Its goal is sustainable management of water resources for people in the coffeelands of Central America. The project is working at all levels of the supply chain to make water a central issue to the sustainability of coffee production and processing.

2,000 direct beneficiaries; 39,000 indirect beneficiaries

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

CAFE VERDE

2013-2016

Café Verde helps coffee farmers affected by coffee leaf rust increase their resilience through training on improved farm management, renovation with improved varieties, and expanded access to technical and financial services. Café Verde is also working with Anacafé to help provide technical material and to extend the reach of their technical services.

1600 farmers

With funding from USAID, MAC Foundation, Keurig Green Mountain.

HONDURAS

BLUE HARVEST

2014-2016

Blue Harvest is a three-year program coordinated by Catholic Relief Services that expands the Global Water Initiative (GWI) in Central America to manage water resources through funding from Keurig Green Mountain. The project will focus on restoring and managing water resources. Its goal is sustainable management of water resources for people in the coffeelands of Central America. The project is working at all levels of the supply chain to make water a central issue to the sustainability of coffee production and processing. In Honduras, Blue Harvest works in the biosphere reserves of El Jilguero and Opalaca.

2,000 direct beneficiaries; 39,000 indirect beneficiaries

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

KENYA

DIVERSIFICATION OF LIVELIHOODS FOR SMALLHOLDER COFFEE FARMERS

2010-2015

This project is part of a suite of food security projects funded by Keurig Green Mountain in the coffeelands of East Africa. In Kenya, CRS is promoting farm diversification for the market (cash crops) and household consumption (high-nutrient foods), basic household nutrition, and community-based savings and lending groups to increase food security and resiliency.

1,500 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

NICARAGUA

BLUE HARVEST

2014-2016

Blue Harvest is a three-year program coordinated by Catholic Relief Services that expands the Global Water Initiative (GWI) in Central America to manage water resources through funding from Keurig Green Mountain. The project will focus on restoring and managing water resources. Its goal is sustainable management of water resources for people in the coffeelands of Central America. The project is working at all levels of the supply chain to make water a central issue to the sustainability of coffee production and processing. In Nicaragua, Blue Harvest works in the communities of San Ramón and El Tuma-La Dalia in the traditional coffee-growing department of Matagalpa.

2,000 direct beneficiaries; 39,000 indirect beneficiaries

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

CARBON IN-SETTING

2011-2015

CRS is working with Fairtrade International and a small group of 60 growers in Nicaragua to prototype a “carbon in-setting” model. Unlike the traditional model of “carbon offsets,” in which carbon credits are purchased from a third-party provider, carbon insets are an exciting new approach in which carbon credits are purchased from growers in the coffee supply chain, creating a valuable new source of income and financial incentives for reforestation.

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

RUST TO RESILIENCE

2014-2016

Rust to Resilience, assists farmers recovering from coffee leaf rust by building resilient coffee-based farming systems. The project provides technical assistance to support renovation, diversification and improved household food security. CRS is collaborating with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture with CIAT to create a tool to measure resilience of households as part of the project baseline and again four years later.

Funded by the MAC Foundation

PHILIPPINES

FARM—FARMER ALLIANCES FOR RESOURCE STRENGTHENING AND MARKETING

2012-2015

The FARM project works to help farmers increase productivity and improve market access for five priority value chains, including coffee. It is the third in a series of projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food for Progress program dating to 2004. These projects have reached more than 35,000 smallholder families, including nearly 9,000 coffee farmers. The coffee work includes collaborations with processors (Robusta) and roasters (Arabica) in local and international markets.

8,913 coffee-growing families

Funded by USDA/Food for Progress

RWANDA

DIVERSIFIED LIVELIHOODS FOR COFFEE GROWERS IN KARABA

2010-2015

This project is part of a suite of food security projects funded by Keurig Green Mountain in the coffeelands of East Africa. In Rwanda, CRS has worked to help improve food security outcomes through improved farming and nutrition practices and community-based savings groups to put more financial resources at the disposition of the poorest households to support increased food security.

3,600 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

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EL SALVADOR

BRIDGES

2011-2014

Bridges: Diversifying Livelihoods in Coffee-Growing Watersheds in Central America, was a regional project that expanded and improved non-coffee livelihoods alternatives for 2,714 coffee-farming families in Central America. In El Salvador, the project worked with coffee-growing families in the El Salto and Las Cruces cooperatives in Ahuachapán and Santa Ana, respectively.

494 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

CAFE LIVELIHOODS

2008-2011

Coffee Assistance for Enhanced Livelihoods (CAFE Livelihoods) helped more than 7,000 farmers in Mexico and Central America—including 425 in El Salvador—compete more effectively in specialty coffee markets by delivering integrated technical assistance all along the coffee chain. Sustainable coffee importer Cooperative Coffees and grassroots financial services pioneer Root Capital partnered with CRS under CAFE Livelihoods to provide specialized technical support to members of more than one dozen organizations, including: APECAFE, El Pinal, El Salto, La Concordia, Las Colinas and Las Cruces.

7,100 farmers

Funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

COFFEE UNDER PRESSURE (CUP)

2009-2011

Coffee Under Pressure: Adaptation to Climate Change in Mesoamerica (CUP). The project was led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and was funded by Keurig Green Mountain (then Green Mountain Coffee Roasters). Under CUP, CRS provided CIAT with geographic coordinates and other information from the hundreds of coffee communities where we worked on CAFE Livelihoods, and CIAT used that information to generate detailed information on the likely impacts of climate change on the productivity and quality of coffee and up to 30 other crops by 2020 and 2050. CRS and CIAT then collaborated with participating communities to draft climate change adaptation plans. More information is available here

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain.

HAITI

MOUNTAINS TO MARKETS

2011-2015

Mountains to Markets (M2M) helped Haitian smallholder farmers achieve greater resilience through upgrades to coffee and mango value chains. M2M accompanied over 2,000 coffee producers in the commune of Beaumont. It improved production of high-quality coffee, strengthened producer groups, expanded their access to high-value market opportunities, and fostered agro-forestry systems that contribute to reforestation.

Funded by CRS.

GUATEMALA

BRIDGES

2011-2014

Bridges: Diversifying Livelihoods in Coffee-Growing Watersheds in Central America, was a regional project that expanded and improved non-coffee livelihoods alternatives for 2,714 coffee-farming families in Central America. In Guatemala, the project worked with coffee-growing families in the Todos Hermanos cooperatives in Chiquimula.

494 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

CAFE LIVELIHOODS

2008-2011

Coffee Assistance for Enhanced Livelihoods (CAFE Livelihoods) helped more than 7,000 farmers in Mexico and Central America—including 681 in Guatemala—compete more effectively in specialty coffee markets by delivering integrated technical assistance all along the coffee chain. Sustainable coffee importer Cooperative Coffees and grassroots financial services pioneer Root Capital partnered with CRS under CAFE Livelihoods to provide specialized technical support to members of the following organizations: ACODEROL, APECAFORM, ASOCAMPO, Café Juan Ana and Santa Anita.

7,100 farmers

Funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

COFFEE UNDER PRESSURE (CUP)

2009-2011

Coffee Under Pressure: Adaptation to Climate Change in Mesoamerica (CUP). The project was led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and was funded by Keurig Green Mountain (then Green Mountain Coffee Roasters). Under CUP, CRS provided CIAT with geographic coordinates and other information from the hundreds of coffee communities where we worked on CAFE Livelihoods, and CIAT used that information to generate detailed information on the likely impacts of climate change on the productivity and quality of coffee and up to 30 other crops by 2020 and 2050. CRS and CIAT then collaborated with participating communities to draft climate change adaptation plans. More information is available here

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain.

DIVERSIFYING LIVELIHOODS IN POCHUTA

2009-2012

This project expanded non-coffee livelihoods alternatives for 112 coffee-farming families that belong to ASOCAMPO (Asociación Campesina Pochutense) and nearly 200 other families who live in and around the community of San Miguel Pochuta in Guatemala. ASOCAMPO participated in CAFE Livelihoods, and accessed needed support for increased productivity and quality through that project. This project complemented CAFE Livelihoods by supporting efforts at agricultural diversification for the market, non-agricultural livelihoods activities and the creation of community-based savings groups.

300 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

BRIDGES

2011-2014

Bridges: Diversifying Livelihoods in Coffee-Growing Watersheds in Central America, was a regional project that expanded and improved non-coffee livelihoods alternatives for 2,714 coffee-farming families in Central America. In Honduras, the project partnered with local governments in three municipalities to deliver support to more than 1,000 coffee-growing families.

1,032 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

MEXICO

CAFE LIVELIHOODS

2008-2011

Coffee Assistance for Enhanced Livelihoods (CAFE Livelihoods) helped more than 7,000 farmers in Mesoamerica—including 832 in Mexico—compete more effectively in specialty coffee markets by delivering integrated technical assistance all along the coffee chain. Sustainable coffee importer Cooperative Coffees and grassroots financial services pioneer Root Capital partnered with CRS under CAFE Livelihoods to provide specialized technical support to members of the following organizations: COCIHP (San Luis Potosí), Maya Vinic (Chiapas), MICHIZA/Yeni Navan (Oaxaca).

7,100 farmers

Funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

COFFEE UNDER PRESSURE (CUP)

2009-2011

Coffee Under Pressure: Adaptation to Climate Change in Mesoamerica (CUP). The project was led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and was funded by Keurig Green Mountain (then Green Mountain Coffee Roasters). Under CUP, CRS provided CIAT with geographic coordinates and other information from the hundreds of coffee communities where we worked on CAFE Livelihoods, and CIAT used that information to generate detailed information on the likely impacts of climate change on the productivity and quality of coffee and up to 30 other crops by 2020 and 2050. CRS and CIAT then collaborated with participating communities to draft climate change adaptation plans. More information is available here

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain.

NICARAGUA

ACORDAR

2007-2012

ACORDAR was a USAID-funded value chain project that created new market opportunities for 5,400 farmers — including 1,200 coffee farmers— and thousands of new jobs in agricultural processing in Nicaragua, where CRS has been working continuously to improve coffee quality and expand access to sustainable coffees markets in the United States since 2002. Participating cooperatives included Aldea Global, CAFENICA, CECOCAFEN, CECOSEMAC , La Fem and SOPPEXCCA.

Funded by USAID.

BRIDGES

2011-2014

Bridges: Diversifying Livelihoods in Coffee-Growing Watersheds in Central America, was a regional project that expanded and improved non-coffee livelihoods alternatives for 2,714 coffee-farming families in Central America. In Nicaragua, the project worked in the San Juan de Río Coco region with coffee-growing families in the belonging to the CORCASAN, PRODECOOP and UCA San Juan de Río Coco cooperatives.

855 families

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain

CAFE LIVELIHOODS

2008-2011

Coffee Assistance for Enhanced Livelihoods (CAFE Livelihoods) helped more than 7,000 farmers in Mexico and Central America—including nearly 2,700 in Nicaragua—compete more effectively in specialty coffee markets by delivering integrated technical assistance all along the coffee chain. Sustainable coffee importer Cooperative Coffees and grassroots financial services pioneer Root Capital partnered with CRS under CAFE Livelihoods to provide specialized technical support to members of the following cooperatives: 5 de junio, CECOCAFEN, CECOSEMAC, CECOSPROCAES and PRODECOOP.

7,100 farmers

Funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

COFFEE UNDER PRESSURE (CUP)

2009-2011

Coffee Under Pressure: Adaptation to Climate Change in Mesoamerica (CUP). The project was led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and was funded by Keurig Green Mountain (then Green Mountain Coffee Roasters). Under CUP, CRS provided CIAT with geographic coordinates and other information from the hundreds of coffee communities where we worked on CAFE Livelihoods, and CIAT used that information to generate detailed information on the likely impacts of climate change on the productivity and quality of coffee and up to 30 other crops by 2020 and 2050. CRS and CIAT then collaborated with participating communities to draft climate change adaptation plans. More information is available here

Funded by Keurig Green Mountain.

FAIR TRADE COFFEE PROJECT

2003-2005

The first CRS coffee value chain project, the Fair Trade Coffee Project was implemented in the wake of the coffee price crisis of 2001 to help growers in Matagalpa participate more sustainably in the global coffee trade. The project worked through local non-profits to help smallholder growers attain and sustain Fair Trade Certification and make their first-ever exports to U.S. specialty coffee buyers.

300 families

Funded by USAID.

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