Tag Archives: Ecuador

Robusta farmers rewarded for quality in the 2nd Taza Dorada

2017-08-29 Comments Off on Robusta farmers rewarded for quality in the 2nd Taza Dorada

The Coffeelands blogs suffers from a few coffee prejudices, which we readily admit to.  Our geographical base is in Central America and therefore our coverage tends to be towards issues that are of great concern in this part of the world.  We’re unabashedly Arabica centric as well.  You’ll find it in our daily drink and […]

Developing the specialty market for robusta with the first “Taza Dorada” in Ecuador

2016-08-16 Comments Off on Developing the specialty market for robusta with the first “Taza Dorada” in Ecuador

The Borderlands project took place on two sides of the Colombian – Ecuadorian border.  In Nariño we know about the hidden potential to produce high quality Arabica coffees.  We’ve shared some of the stories from there previously on this blog.  Less than 100 miles away, while the Andes mountains continue tracing the spine of South […]

376. This is not your father’s Arabica

2013-12-17 Comments Off on 376. This is not your father’s Arabica

Manuel Díaz is an independent consultant who helped CQI create its new R standards, which aim to do for Robustas what the Q standards have done for Arabicas.  His presentation on Day Two of the 2013 edition of Let’s Talk Robusta reinforced the central appeal of the brilliant keynote delivered on Day One by Ken […]

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 […]

313. Robusta: The other coffee

2012-10-23 Comments Off on 313. Robusta: The other coffee

Last October, I wrote the R-word on this blog for the first time.  I was explaining our collaboration with smallholder farmers in Ecuador’s northern Amazon region to explore the emerging market for specialty Robusta coffees. It took us more than a year to re-engage publicly with the idea of fine Robusta, but we think it […]

307. Let’s Talk Robusta

2012-10-02 Comments Off on 307. Let’s Talk Robusta

Today I travel to Medellín with 20 CRS colleagues, partners and project participants from Colombia, Ecuador and Haiti for Let’s Talk Coffee – the annual coffee value chain event that Sustainable Harvest created 10 years ago.  The first Let’s Talk Coffee was a groundbreaking innovation, creating an annual space for face-to-face communications among farmer organizations […]

278. How CRS came to be involved in FT4All in Colombia

2012-05-30 Comments Off on 278. How CRS came to be involved in FT4All in Colombia

Yesterday we announced here that we are getting involved in an FT4All pilot project with independent smallholder farmers in Colombia.  Today we explain how it came to pass.

265. Nice guys (don’t always) finish last

2012-04-27 Comments Off on 265. Nice guys (don’t always) finish last

The 2012 edition of the SCAA Expo proved that nice guys don’t always finish last — among the event’s big winners were some of the nicest guys in coffee.

252. This is what a baseline looks like

2012-03-22 Comments Off on 252. This is what a baseline looks like

Beginning next month, more than 40 agronomists and community organizers will fan out across the highlands of Nariño, Colombia, and along the agricultural frontier in Ecuador’s northern Amazon region to collect baseline data from more than 1,000 smallholder farmers participating in our Borderlands Coffee Project.  We began working in earnest on the baseline survey back […]

216. The CRS Coffeelands Blog turns 2

2011-11-09 Comments Off on 216. The CRS Coffeelands Blog turns 2

Today the CRS Coffeelands Blog celebrates the second anniversary of its inaugural post back on 9 November 2009.  The blog has managed to turn our experience in CAFE Livelihoods and other projects at origin into more than 200 original posts over the past two years — posts that have  generated thoughtful discussion among leading figures […]