Tag Archives: Guatemala

Incentivizing farmer-led renovation in Guatemala

2016-05-23 Comments Off on Incentivizing farmer-led renovation in Guatemala

A few months ago, in the offices of Anacafé in Guatemala City, the II Cumbre de la Roya was held, 2 years after the initial meeting.  The objective of the meeting was to take stock of what has happened since the first meeting and to see how the Central American coffee sector was recovering from […]

Fichas de Finca

2016-03-14 Comments Off on Fichas de Finca

When I was a kid, I collected coins.  I know, I know.  TOTAL nerd. Eventually, I stopped collecting them.  But I never really got over them.  And I never got rid of them.  They are still in a bedroom closet in the house where I grew up.  Next to my baseball cards. Over the past […]

“Nano” finance? Village savings and loans groups filling the gaps that microfinance can’t reach

2015-08-17 Comments Off on “Nano” finance? Village savings and loans groups filling the gaps that microfinance can’t reach

In a few of my recent posts, I have juxtaposed the amount of investment that is directed to the retail end of the supply chain (for example, $70 million for Blue Bottle, $9 million for a “bulletproof” coffee retail chain, etc.) versus the amount that is directed to the most vulnerable end of the supply […]

427. A conversation with Ric Rhinehart on the future of coffee in Mesoamerica

2014-10-16 Comments Off on 427. A conversation with Ric Rhinehart on the future of coffee in Mesoamerica

Last week I participated in Let’s Talk Coffee, importer Sustainable Harvest’s annual value chain event, for the fifth time.  The content of the event was broader the caliber of the speakers higher than at any other LTC event I remember.  But the best presentation of the event—the one that still has me thinking the better […]

419. Coffee leaf rust update: Get the humanitarian aid ready

2014-08-25 Comments Off on 419. Coffee leaf rust update: Get the humanitarian aid ready

Back in May, FEWS NET predicted that coffee leaf rust would create a food security Crisis in coffee-growing regions in eastern and western Guatemala between July and September.  It did. Two weeks ago, FEWS NET issued this update on coffee leaf rust and food security in Central America that delivered more bad news: poor rainfall has […]

418. My summer in coffee

2014-08-18 Comments Off on 418. My summer in coffee

I am back in the office today after a long summer holiday in the United States.  The best thing about my annual visit to the States–after spending quality time with my family and friends, of course–is the coffee. This summer the coffee was especially good.  With this variation on the “what-I-did-this-summer” back-to-school essay, I want […]

409. The coming crisis in the coffeelands

2014-06-05 Comments Off on 409. The coming crisis in the coffeelands

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) released another update on the food security situation in Central America last week.  I have not been working directly on our response to coffee leaf rust in Central America, and I have not been publishing much here lately.  But I felt compelled by a “lost-in-translation” moment in […]

388. Coffee leaf rust update: Guatemala

2014-02-18 Comments Off on 388. Coffee leaf rust update: Guatemala

On Friday, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) released a Special Report on coffee leaf rust and food security in Central America. Yesterday, I published this comment on the report and its (troubling) content. Beginning today, I will ask colleagues working in the coffelands in Central America to weigh in on the report […]

387. Coffee leaf rust update: Stressed acute food insecurity

2014-02-17 Comments Off on 387. Coffee leaf rust update: Stressed acute food insecurity

Editor’s Note: This post has been revised to include additonal detail about the “stressed acute food insecurity” classification applied to Guatemala and Honduras by FEWS NET. – – – – – The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET), a USAID-funded initiative that monitors hunger in chronically food insecure countries around the world, late last week […]

365. This is what vulnerability looks like

2013-06-17 Comments Off on 365. This is what vulnerability looks like

As a principle, I believe that we learn better from direct experience than from books and data and graphics.  And as a matter of experience, I know that traveling to the coffeelands can be a source of endless illumination about the secret lives of coffee farmers.  Nothing helps us understand the vulnerability of poor households […]