Coffee on the slopes of a volcano.
03/03/2011Every job has its perks, and being with the Rainforest Alliance those perks can be awesome. A recent visit to a Rainforest Alliance certified coffee farm in Nicaragua is a case in point.
Hacienda El Progreso coffe farm in Nicaragua
Hacienda El Progreso is a family owned and run coffee farm sitting between 700 and 850 metres on the slopes of the volcano Mombacho. It is part of the buffer zone that surrounds the national nature reserve, which makes up a large part of both the cloud and dry forests which blanket the volcano. A beautiful place to grow coffee, with both the farm and volcano overlooking the city of Granada and the spectacular Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America.
With certification the farm has established a reputation for some of the finest coffee in Nicaragua and is a major tourist attraction in its own right. Unusually, the farm doesn’t just sell green beans into the market. Hacineda El Progreso grows, dries, roasts and produces the coffee, bringing it to market under the Café Las Flores brand. Unfortunately for us this coffee is mostly aimed at the domestic Nicaraguan market. But for real coffee fans the wonders of technology means that you can by it online.
Shade grown coffee at Hacinenda El Progreso farm
The farms success has grown from the diversification and transformation the business has gone through in recent years. By roasting their own coffee they have successfully increased the value of their coffee and engage to a much larger extent in the supply chain. This is complemented by their tourism operation which includes both visits to the farm and canopy tours of the farms forest cover.
So what does Rainforest Alliance certification mean for this farm? For Hacienda El Progreso it has been an evolutionary progress. Coffee on the farm is shade grown, with tree coverage of between 60 and 70 per cent of the coffee growing area. The farm has introduced an effective water management process using water from the cloud forest in its “wet mill” process, then passing that water through a bio-digester and cleansing pool before returning it to the environment.
The farms uses the methane gas produced by the bio-digester to provide gas for cooking and has plans to convert its
Water is retained on the farm and cleaned before returning it to the environment.
“wet mill” process to methane power, helping it to reduce its carbon emissions even further. Another big change has been waste management on the farm. All of the by-products from the “wet mill” process is no long thrown away. Instead it is carefully composted and recycled back onto the land, making the farm entirely self sufficient in its fertilizers use.
And the farm is a heaven for wildlife with many species of birds, both resident and migratory, being found there. A species of salamanda, which is endemic to the Mombacho volcano, and many insects and amphibians also make their home on the farm.
Hacienda El Progreso is a good example of the future of coffee farming in Nicaragua. If you happen to find yourself in this part of the world it is well worth a visit.
Bio-digester, part of the farm's water treatment. The methane gas produced is used by the farm as a power source.
