Benjamin Rivera, Los Cipreses Farm

400, that's almost nothing, but I had to start somewhere and I couldn't afford to buy more than 400 plants.

My wife and I planted them next to our house so we could easily tend to them, and we pitted our cherries in a small machine from back then, which required all my strength to operate. I don't think I'd be able to do it at my age.

But actually, it was my father who taught me how to grow coffee. I started working with him when I was a boy, and once I got married and moved into my own house, I decided to continue. My wife and I were the first in El Pinal to grow it, and at first, people around us were surprised. We live at almost 1,600 meters above sea level, and thirty or forty years ago, that was really high in our region to grow coffee.

But soon after, neighbors and other people in town started to get interested and even asked for seedlings to begin their own experiments. That first harvest, I took all my coffee across the border to Chalatenango in El Salvador. That's only a few kilometers from where we live, and the Salvadorans paid more. I received the equivalent of $20 for my first load, which was a great deal back then.

Now, of course, I'm a member of Cafesmo, and we sell our coffee through the cooperative. I still work with my beloved wife, but our children have also joined the coffee business. They all have their own plots of land, and most are married now, but we work together like one big family. This new generation does much of the heavy lifting, while my wife and I have the advantage of many decades of experience. Together, we can overcome any obstacle.