Photo Credit: Michelle Frankfurter
Learn more about our Nicaraguan partnership
with Catholic Relief Services!

In a country that has seen the gruesome effects of the coffee crisis, small scale growers have banned together in search of an alternative solution to improving coffee quality and sustainable development.

In Perspective

Soon after being introduced to Nicaragua by Catholic Missionaries in the 1790’s, coffee became forever intertwined in the history of the country. The first 8000 pounds of beans were exported by boat in 1850, ushering in an age of prosperity for the mostly foreign coffee barons as they oppressed the largely indigenous population of the country. Quickly, coffee production became an integral part to the economic growth of Nicaragua as growers lived a life of extreme poverty and oppression. This misery manifested itself in different forms through the 1970’s when the US backed contras roamed coffee growing country of rural Nicaragua as it waged a war against the Sandinistas and their popular – largely campesino – uprising.

The new millennia ushered in a coffee crisis that saw nearly unparalleled devastation. Until coffee prices began to fall in the late 1990’s, coffee cultivation represented nearly a third of the agricultural sector's GDP, half of agricultural export earnings and a quarter of the country's total exports. With coffee prices plummeting, coffee growers by the thousands left their coffee fields and migrated to Matagalpa and Managua in hopes of finding emergency food. Today, thanks to support from international aid and dedicated growers banning together to form fair trade coffee cooperatives, Nicaraguan farmers are finally getting a chance to share their specialty coffees direct to the world at a fair price. With 79% of Nicaraguan’s earning less than $2/ day, it is about time that fair trade takes root!

A Quality Cup

The coffee tree varieties of Maragogype, Bourbon, and Caturra grown in rich volcanic soil at an ideal growing altitude all help Nicaraguan specialty coffees reach a distinction of quality. Quality improvement programs such as the construction of community owned dry beneficios – where green coffee is washed and dried – along with cupping laboratories in the countryside have distinguished Nicaraguan coffee as one of the most sought after origins in the world. Your typical, high quality specialty grade Nicaraguan bean will have a full body, and rich sweet flavor profile finished with a slight nutty finish.

La Central de Cooperativas Cafetaleras del Norte (CECOCAFEN)

Made up of nearly 2,000 small-scale coffee farmers from nine cooperatives, CECOCAFEN is producing high quality coffee while raising its members’ quality of life. Since its establishment in 1997, CECOCAFEN has taken great strides toward fulfilling its goals through a wide variety of social, environmental, and production programs. Income from fair trade coffee sales has enabled the cooperative to implement a variety of social and quality improvement programs.

More than 225 women participate in a savings and loan program for investment in activities that provide income diversification and food security. Revenue from Fair Trade Premiums have helped CECOCAFEN finance a solar processing plant, SOLCAFE, and quality control laboratory. Trainings in sustainable agriculture include organic and shade cultivation, terracing, soil conservation, and crop diversification. Last but not least, CECOCAFEN has funded over 200 secondary and university scholarships for cooperative members and their children.

Click here to purchase coffee from this cooperative.