OUR FARMER EDUCATION PROJECT AT ORIGIN
At Devoción, we are committed to so much more than just selling coffee. Our mission is to not only provide the freshest coffee, but also to protect the origin and improve lives in coffee-growing communities. One way we are working towards this is through the development of educational projects with our coffee producing partners.
At Devoción, our mission goes beyond just selling great coffee. We are committed to not only providing the freshest coffee, but also protecting the origin and improving lives in coffee-growing communities. One way we are working towards this goal is through the development of educational projects with our coffee producing partners.
A joint effort between our sustainability department, social responsibility and innovation department, and a local coffee association ASOFINCAS, we have developed a project focused on providing technical training to our farmer partners regarding good agricultural practices. Now in its third year, this training program was established based on research in coffee growing communities to understand coffee producers’ needs for their crops and farms, and to understand the best teaching methodology.
What initially started out as a pilot program in association with ASOFINCAS in Gachetá region of Colombia has now evolved into a more robust program carried out in several other coffee-growing communities through the distribution of tablets with short, informative videos. Topics in this training program include harvesting, fermentation and processing, drying, storage and soft skills such as leadership and resilience, skills that are key to reliable, quality coffee production. The Devoción team travels to these partner communities to carry out the training curriculum, and to ensure the continuity of the project and that its objectives are met, we work closely with an appointed regional monitor in charge of tracking the process and outcomes.
Initiatives such as this educational project have proven a win-win for both the farmers and for Devoción. As the producers acquire new knowledge to perfect their craft, they are able to increase the quality and yield of their harvest, resulting in higher income as they can fetch higher prices for a superior product. For Devoción, the implementation of these programs, besides being a bet for the well-being and future of our coffee growers, results in a consistent supply of high quality coffee. Martha Obando, one of the coffee growers who participated in the training in Gachetá, shared with us that “this project really does benefit the coffee growers, since the final quality of the coffee improves and with it, our profits increase.”
Looking ahead into the future, we hope to expand this program to other coffee communities throughout Colombia. We are working to include more socially and environmentally relevant topics and content to further complement our coffee producer partners’ knowledge and help them acquire new expertise, guaranteeing only the highest quality coffee for our consumers and a more sustainable future for them, their families and communities.
