Alfredo Rivera, Finca El Prado
My father was often ill and died when I was still a boy.
His death forced me to start working the small plot of land we had. That was half a century ago, and back then we grew corn. With a lot of effort, I was able to buy a little more land and decided to switch to coffee, because I noticed it was more profitable than corn.
That's how, around 1992, I harvested my first crop of coffee beans, and a new chapter of my life began. Gradually, I diversified the varieties, and now I grow Bourbon, Catimor, Parainema, and IH-Coffee 90. The latter two are especially resistant to coffee rust. However, I also grow a little corn and beans on my land. It's for our own consumption and much cheaper than having to buy it at the local market. My wife and I have eight children, so there were a lot of mouths to feed when they were young. Six of them are daughters, who now live with their spouses and have children of their own. Two are sons, who are also adults but still live with us and work with me on our farm .
I'm lucky to have them, since I was born in 1960 and I'm now too old to look after the land myself. It's only 1.5 hectares, but even so, it requires daily effort to keep it in good condition. There's weeding to be done, plants to be kept tidy, enough shade to be provided, but not too much, the harvest to be gathered, the freshly harvested grains to be dried and prepared, and the soil to be kept fertile.
I've stopped using fertilizers. Partly because it was required for organic certification, but also because it was too expensive. Now we use the pulp left over from pulping the grains, and also our chickens' manure. This makes the farm much healthier and the harvests better.
It's exciting to know that a renowned importer of specialty coffees from Taiwan purchased some of our coffee in 2022. Before, I barely knew where Taiwan was, but my children helped me find it on a map called Google. It's incredibly far away, and I can hardly believe my beans will end up traveling so far. It fills me with pride and renewed hope.
At last, our hard work is being fairly rewarded. Three decades of hard work for me, and almost ten years for my children. I can't wait for the next harvest to begin, as I now have renewed energy and a tangible prospect of stable relationships with buyers of quality grain.
Property details
1.5 hectares at 1,430 meters
Shade from many different local trees, a little orange and some avocado.
Pacas , Borbón , Catimor , Parainema , IH - Café 90
Farm certified as organic , fair trade , RFA
