THE CONTEXT:

FABRICA is our certified organic coffee from the village of Gaitania, Tolima, Colombia. For the record, we named it this way because its terroir is a veritable "cloud factory", with a relative humidity of almost 95% all year round, one of the highest in the country.

This permanent humidity and the increasingly difficult climatic conditions force the coffee producers of the Nasa indigenous community (ASOCANAFI & ASCISP associations, with whom we have been working for 2 years) to sell their coffee wet.

The consequences are numerous, this deteriorates the product, and causes losses and a less qualitative cup profile and consequently, a significant drop in income for the producers, forcing them to sell to intermediaries in town rather than to the associations.

We identified that the main problem was the lack of a drying system that would reduce the drying time and maintain or even improve the quality of the coffee. And without an efficient drying system, it also reduces the likelihood of producing natural coffee, remembering that the issue of reducing water consumption is crucial in the face of climate change.

The damage of climate change

THE PROJECT :

The project consists of providing 2 mechanical silos for drying 4,000 kg of wet parchment (2,000 kg of dry parchment), one for each indigenous association, Asocanafi and Ascisp, retrofitting existing facilities to install them, but also carrying out all the training to ensure their proper functioning.

Objectives:

1. To improve the quality of the organic coffee produced by the members of the associations ASCISP and ASOCANAFI, thanks to a standardised drying process in a mechanical silo
2. To increase the income and cash flow of indigenous families
3. To develop the natural process to reduce water consumption and contamination and thus generate a positive impact on the environment

WHEN?

The project started implementation in October 2021 and was successfully delivered in April 2022

WHERE?

- Village: NASA Aboriginal Community

- Municipality: Gaitania - Planadas

- Department: Tolima

- Country: Colombia

- Altitude: 1700 - 2000 MASL

WHO?

- The indigenous community of NASA = 59 small producers from ASCISP and 35 small producers from ASOCANAFI

- Cesar Rengifo, quality manager of Team Belco Colombia & Peru

THE RESULT

Cesar carried out the closing visit of the project in April.

The installation of the two silos was 100% completed.

12 people were trained on the importance of drying, traceability and management of solar and mechanical dryers. During the training, the teams emphasised the time that elapses between the moment the grain leaves the farm and the moment it is delivered to the final consumer, hence the requirements in terms of moisture content. As a reminder, Belco requires its partners to have a maximum moisture content of 11.5%, whereas the standard is 12.5%. These installations will make it possible to reduce the water consumption of all the natural coffees processed and to considerably increase the income of the producing families thanks to the improved appearance of the beans, a better yield and a better cup profile.

BUDGET

USD 25,000 divided into two parts:

- USD 18,850 for the mechanical silos

• USD 6,150 for the installation of the facilities and training in the operation of the mechanical silos.

Discover our Fabrica coffee behind this projects