Nicaraguan Coffee Industry introduces Fine Coffee Matagalpa Central Central America

Now that Nicaragua is facing a crisis in the coffee industry, most coffee farmers reflect on the shortcomings of the original mode of production. "sometimes the crisis can divide the hearts of the people, but sometimes it can also unite the hearts of the people," he said. Many Nicaraguan coffee farmers find that they can survive if they join cooperatives, organic certification schemes, or fair trade associations. "

In a survey of 240small coffee farms in the Matagalpa-Jinotega district, Bacon and other researchers found that coffee farmers who joined organic certification programs or fair trade associations earned about 2-3 times higher than those in the country. Bacon further pointed out: "these farmers show a higher level of self-confidence than other farmers and believe that they do not have to worry about bank deductions. "

Bacon said that the impact has caused great damage to large farms, and in this limited small market, the small farm model seems to reflect the trend of future farms. Large farms usually have a high debt-offset ratio for banks, which is a high-income-high-expenditure business model, which is difficult to achieve in modern times. because the trend of modern coffee farms is high planting costs and high labor costs, capital recovery is not easy. "

As a result, small farms have more room for survival because they only use the original limited manpower and grow them organically. In addition, they also grow crops for daily needs. Small cooperative farms feel that their business model is recognized by more buyers. More importantly, small coffee farms find that their lives are changing, not only with higher incomes. They also agree with the benefits brought to them by participating in a large group, and the power of this large group is amazing.

Centralized water treatment plant

Regardless of the size of the farm, most Nicaraguan coffee farmers have a perception that only those who work on quality and innovation will be able to survive this crisis. Private farms on a larger scale are also learning to work with other institutions or organizations to create a new situation. For example, I visited several large farms in the Jinotega district, and they combined to form an alliance system centered around a centralized water treatment plant, which they called Pueblo Nuevo, funded by USAID and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Agriculture, and run by TechnoServe, a non-profit consulting firm.

Tom Kilroy, founder of McKinsey Consulting, said: "when it comes to price competition, Nicaraguan coffee can never be compared with mobile Brazilian coffee." But the Pueblo Nuevo plan is not a low-cost strategy to improve the situation in Nicaragua, but to improve the overall quality of coffee. In the past, these Nicaraguan coffee farmers went their own way and handled their own coffee fruits. They can often be seen using dirty water to deal with these coffee fruits, and the quality is nothing to look forward to.