Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/804825
24 barista magazine F O A M : N E W S + T R E N D S GUATEMALA'S WOMEN IN COFFEE MEET THE VOLCAFE WAY FOR SEVEN YEARS, Celeste Fumagalli's father sold his coffee cherry to a coyote—a necessity, after the water source on his farm dried up, making it impossible to mill the cherry and sell green coffee in parchment, the standard practice in the region. The year after her father passed away, Celeste again gave the cherry to the coyote, who never returned with her payment. It was her family's annual income. "We were three women—me, my mother, and my sister—and I said to my mother, 'Mama, we will never sell to a coyote again.'" Celeste's mother pleaded with her not to let the family go more deeply in debt, but Celeste took out a bank loan to dig a new well, and with her hus- band's help, she installed a small mill. "Now we do everything," smiles Celeste. The mother of three young boys, she's sweet, warm, and welcoming. "Washed, natural, honey processed. It's all working." For two years, Celeste has been president of Mujeres en Café Guatemala, a 10-year-old organization designed to, in Celeste's words, "empower women and give them the tools and the options for processing and managing everything in the coffee chain, from the seed to the cup." On February 3, the group sat for a presentation about Volcafe Way, a farming strategy and free farmer-assistance program created by the parent company of Genuine Origin and Volcafe Specialty. Dedicated fi eld teams meet with producers and provide both business skills (few farmers keep records or receipts, treating their farms as extensions of their households, rather than businesses) and agricultural advice (even many third-generation farmers don't realize that coffee trees never produce fruit in the same spot twice, making a pruning strategy essential). Heading into its third year, Volcafe Way is working with more than 20,000 producers at 11 origins, with the aim of helping them to become and remain profi table. For women producers, it may represent a more nuanced opportunity. One woman at the meeting, when asked what about coffee is most challenging, replied simply, "Getting people to work with me." Top: Jennifer Leonowens is the new president of the Guatemala chapter of Mujeres en Café (www.mujerescafeguatemala.org). For two years, she's been the head of her family's coff ee farm, which means giving instruction to the farm administrator in charge of day-to-day activities. "The fi rst year was very diffi cult," she says. "The administrator had to grow accustomed to a woman boss. But it's become a very interesting relationship, and now he and I get along super well." Below: In February, Genuine Origin hosted the Mujeres en Café de Guatemala at the Pastores mill in Antigua, formerly the capital city of Guatemala. Pastores has been processing coff ee since the late 1800s, and today it's where Genuine Origin processes its coff ees.