Strengthening Coffee Communities Through Infrastructure and Training

Cooperativa Agraria Rutas del Inca (CARI) is a cooperative in the Peruvian Querocoto district, in the Chota province of Cajamarca. The harvesting takes place in the highlands and is comprised of over 368 families of small-scale organic and Fair Trade coffee producers. The cooperative is rooted in community development, environmental sustainability, and fair trade practices. The cooperative has invested in long term strategies to help sustain the cooperative and continue their certifications. CARI focused $165,820USD of Community Development Funds towards water harvesting systems, solar drying devices, technical training, coffee commercialization support, infrastructure planning and certification maintenance. Functionally, the capital investment of water harvesters store water for coffee crops during dry seasons, a drying process for coffee beans using solar energy to reduce production costs. For infrastructure support, the cooperative documented consolidated collection points to efficiently transport coffee from producers for export. In addition, staff and training were also directed toward field monitoring and internal audits to ensure compliance with Fair Trade standards and build capacity in organic production.