On the ground in Nicaragua

I really enjoy trips to origin. No matter how tired I am before I leave, I get a surge of energy as I'm landing.

I love being hands on and learning about the challenges, issues and achievements first hand. For this trip it was great to bring a team of staff with me to share in the experience and also bring back personal examples of the work we are doing in Nicaragua.

Origin trips are all about relationships. We created our Fair to Farmer Direct program so that we could have a more meaningful relationship with co-ops and farmers. This is why it’s critical that either Banks Thomas our Director of Coffee or I visit co-ops and farmers in Central and South America, as well as Indonesia each and every year.

Before we created our Fair to Farmer Direct program I knew that by deepening our relationships with farmers, Salt Spring Coffee would eventually have a positive impact on the health and prosperity of the co-ops and farmers.

This year we’re committed to doing a better job of showing you the relationships we’ve formed through web posts, photo galleries and a series of short videos.

So what does a deeper relationship with co-ops and farmers look like in practical terms? We thought you might appreciate an example.

Nicaragua

Salt Spring Coffee has visited the San Juan del Rio Coco region in Northwestern Nicaragua six times in the last the five years, and twice in the last six months. In this region we work specifically with two outstanding partner co-ops: Zacarias Padillo and Jose Alfredo Zeladon. Responsive, willing and open, they’ve been working with us to find creative solutions to some of their daily challenges – namely, improving their coffee quality and crop yields.

During a previous visit to Nicaragua, we identified that although these co-ops were growing their coffees organically, there was an opportunity to improve soil fertility through some basic equipment additions.

After some research and consultation with other farmers, most notably Byron Corrales of Byron’s Maracaturra, we identified that incorporating a small chipper into each co-ops’ chain of production could make a world of difference to the vitality of their soil.

Getting chippers to the co-ops took some work. We personally picked up three chippers in Jinotega, loaded and tied down all three to the back of our pickup truck, and hand delivered them to Zacaris Padillo (about five hours by truck from Jinotega) where I started it up and gave a demonstration on its use.

What’s a chipper?

It’s a piece of equipment that chops-up coffee plant trimmings and other organic vegetation. You name it, leaves, branches, residue from wet processing and other readily available organic materials are fair game. Mix all that with some cow and horse manure and there you have it - a good basic compost. Now it's up to them to create the mixture that will feed and enrich next season's harvest.

The delivery of the chippers to our co-op partners at Zacarias Padillo gives me tremendous satisfaction. I was moved by the excitement and passion of the co-op leaders. They could not wait to start using the chippers - right away they were brainstorming and talking through how they would put them to good use.

I’m already looking forward to going back to Zacarias Padillo later this year to see the progress they’ve made.

What origin trips like this always do is drive home why we the make extra efforts we do, and reinforce the value of Fair to Farmer Direct at Salt Spring Coffee.