Good restoration and sustainable management practices are the stakes of the “RENACER” Coffee Administrators School, in Ahuachapán, to achieve a better quality of Salvadoran coffee.
The project, which has been executed since 2019 by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), focuses its work on training small coffee farmers in the recovery of the coffee park, with the implementation of soil and water conservation practices, selective collection and proper processing.
According to Raúl Arévalo, officer of the coffee value chain for CRS, a coffee tree needs an acid soil to achieve fertilization efficiency, however the soil in El Salvador is “strongly acid” due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides.
“In the current conditions of the soil, perhaps not even 50% of what is invested in fertilization is being used,” he said.
For decades, Salvadoran coffee production remained between 1 million and 4 million quintals, and to date, it does not exceed 800 thousand quintals. In 2020, with the project, small coffee growers were able to export 800 quintals and sell 150 quintals in the local market. For the 2020-2021 harvest they expect to export 1,200 quintals.
“El Salvador is not going to produce what it did decades ago, but for us to reach two million quintals and for the country to be known for the quality of its coffee (…) at least there are many producers and cooperatives that have a large quantity of land and if they concentrate on recovering some blocks that will give them the dynamics to recover the rest, “he said.
With two years of execution, RENACER has contributed to the fact that small producers in Ahuachapán have gone from producing 4 quintals to 38 quintals of coffee per apple; in addition, they have improved the cup rating from 79 points to 89, in some cases.
A rating below 85 points is considered a commercial coffee, above 85 points as a special coffee, those coffees from 88 to 90 points as exceptional coffees, also called single origin coffees.
With more than 89 points, one of the farms worked with good practices in the framework of the project achieved fifth place in the Cup of Excellence last year, and auctioned the pound at $ 33.50, when the price on the Stock Exchange did not exceed $ 1.50 per pound.
“Being here has helped me a lot, today we are already wanting to improve the quality of the coffee, I already had certain ideas but I want to improve. Right now the coffee is not enough to live on, but perhaps in the future I will be able to export my coffee and sell it to a better price, the producer sometimes does not even take out the expenses, it is not profitable, “said María Munsun, owner of the San Antonio farm in Ataco and Tacuba, and who is trained in RENACER.
Julio Herrera is another of the beneficiaries, with 3 acres of coffee growing, the producer claims to get between 12 and 13 quintals maximum in one harvest; With RENACER, he ensures that his goal is to “improve the soil” that in his area (Tacuba) is well worn and improve production.
In RENACER, producers learn the management of their farms by applying cover crop practices, fertilization and integrated pest management.
“I want to improve my farm and now I have more criteria because I have expanded my knowledge. To produce a quintal we spend about $ 80 and sometimes they buy it for $ 50 or $ 60 and that is why I have come to sell the production on my own,” he said.
Each course lasts one year and is developed through two days of theoretical and practical training per month, and comprises three modules that are developed according to the phenological stage of the crop.
According to Sigfredo Corado, RENACER coordinator, to date 58 farm administrators have been trained and 45 are in training. At the beginning, the project was only designed for producers in Ahuachapán, but increasingly, coffee growers from other areas of the country are requesting training on the subject, he says.
RENACER goes beyond training farm managers in production, processing and marketing. The project also includes training in quality control, cupping and barista.
The course “Introduction to quality control, roasting and cupping” seeks that the participant knows the effect that the management of the farm, variety, altitude, harvest and beneficiation has on the quality of their coffee. Participants can access half scholarships and full scholarships.
“We want to empower producers and make them feel that they can do things, the most important thing is that foreign exchange is generated through coffee, we want people to feel proud of what they do,” said Eduardo Mendoza, from control of quality in RENACER.
This year, the School of Coffee Administrators will give its first barista course, and the person in charge of teaching it will be the two-time national champion, Jonathan Mendoza.
According to Mendoza, another of the goals of the Renacer project is to empower youth and to “believe in this grain that has given much revenue to the country throughout history.”
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