Organic Coffee
The Caranavi region of the Yungas includes several communities whose expertise is the production of organic coffee. However, without post-harvesting processing facilities, coffee producers failed to meet international quality standards.
In the communities of Llusta Primera and Villa Victoria, as part of the YCADF, ACDI/VOCA installed post-harvesting processing plants, with all the accompanying infrastructure for the treatment of residues. The YCADF organic coffee projects, such as these, allow producers to better meet international standards for organic coffee production and therefore obtain higher prices for their product. Components include a receiving station for green coffee, motorized de-pulping machines, fermentation tanks, a 10,000-liter water storage tank, concrete grain washing canals, open-air concrete drying patios (three in each community), and a product storage building. Waste water from the production process is disposed of in specially-constructed filtration pits. And to preserve and aid the environment, waste organic material is collected and composted to make fertilizer. Together, these communities include 64 families involved in the project, representing over 300 people. As the project grows, it is anticipated that more families -- as many as 106 -- from the altiplano region will be temporarily employed as coffee harvesters during the harvest season.
The investment in equipment and training paid off when Llustra Primera placed fifth in the annual Taza de Excelencia 2004 coffee-tasting competition in Santa Cruz, held October 20–24. Llustra Primera has emerged as one of the best coffees in the Caranavi region.
In the community of Uchmachi, also located in the Caranavi region of the Yungas, the YCADF built 35 household level ecological post-harvest micro-processing plants. Each plant contains a small water intake, a water storage tank, a manual pulp remover, fermenting and washing tank, grain-running channel, pit with filter for disposal of wastewater from the washing process, a reservoir for pulp (for fertilizer production), and patios for outdoor air/sun drying. Similar micro-plants -- 46 in total -- were constructed in the community of Aguas Turbias, also in the Caranavi region.
