Coffee for Peace

CONTEXT

The Cauca department has been highly affected by the Colombian conflict since the beginning of the war, 60 years ago. Affording safe economic opportunities is the way to reach a sustainable peace. In Cauca, coffee farming is playing a huge role in terms of social and economic stability. Coffee is cultivated in small plots, mainly by Afro-descendants, indigenous and peasants’ communities, housing more than 90.000 coffee families, who grows 93.000 hectares of coffee beans. In this context, planting coffee makes senses to reach a territorial peace.

The Cauca department must face another challenge which is climate change. In few years it will be difficult for Colombian farmers to produce coffee at this altitude. This project implements agroforestry as a solution to mitigate climate change in the coffee parcels. It will impact 1200ha of organic coffee parcels and reforestation area, with more than 1500 families of coffee farmers. With the local partner, National Federation of Coffee Growers, the objective is to afford economic opportunities through coffee farming and environmental sustainability through organic production and trees planting.

OBJECTIVES

• Full-sun coffee farms are expanding, and organic practices are still not sufficiently adopted
• Organic practices and agroforestry will help to reverse the trend and protect soils and ecosystems
• Moreover, coffee is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, which are already affecting production quality, yields and areas – agroforestry can increase coffee resilience
• Agricultural pressure on local forests and protected areas is high – intensifying coffee production systems in unused, degraded lands belonging to smallholders who lack resources to extend their farms can contribute to mitigating this threat

MULTIPLE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL BENEFITS 

• Development: Fighting rural poverty and contributing to capacity building and sustainable socio-economic development
• Conservation: Preserving forests and natural parks; fighting key deforestation drivers in the area
• Sustainable agriculture: Fostering the transition from full-sun monocultures to agroforestry organic systems
• Minorities’ rights: Contributing to the protection of indigenous reserves and Afro-Colombian community lands
• Securing land titling: Helping sustainably reinforce land tenure for smallholder coffee farmers