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Profile of PROCOCER in Nicaragua |
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The coffee farmers in PROCOCER have big dreams. They’re working toward an ecotourism project to promote the natural beauty of Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, a project that includes their own dry coffee mill and hotel. PROCOCER is also taking steps to increase the incomes of their members through crop diversification. They hope to increase production by planting more profitable varieties of coffee - like those of the Maragogype – and to improve their technical capacity by training more organic inspectors. This is the second year that Equal Exchange has purchased our featured micro-lot of Organic Maragogype coffee from PROCOCER and the flavor profile of the coffee is fantastic. The co-op members are working to improve the quality of their coffee across the board. Our purchases have increased in recent years; this year we bought four more fantastic lots of PROCOCER coffee, which can be found in Organic Café Nica Medium Roast.
PROCOCER was founded in 1998, and membership grew quickly. Their vision for building the co-operative was strong, but they came upon financial hardship in their third year as the members tried to do too much, too soon. As a result, dreams for expansion were put on hold as the co-op struggled to succeed. With the helping hand of our sister co-operative, CECOCAFEN, the farmers are now on their way to financial solvency and are working to restructure their plans. For example, PROCOCER is receiving financial and managerial training to improve their systems, and there has also been a change in leadership. With the guidance of CECOCAFEN, they are transforming their systems and are working to make the farmers' hopes and aspirations a reality. Ecotourism is one of the ways to do just that.
Before their financial challenges, the PROCOCER co-operative began building a hotel in Nueva Segovia and went as far as buying an undeveloped thermal hot spring to attract tourists. PROCOCER is trying to promote their country's natural beauty while improving the lives of farmers. Their plans to build a hotel and develop hot springs were recently resurrected and are in the midst of being reformulated by utilizing an alternative model of ecotourism. This model is based on homestays, where tourists and visitors stay with coffee growing families and experience Nicaraguan culture first hand. Guests stay in the houses of the coffee producers, enjoy Nicaraguan cuisine and participate in the daily work performed on each farm. It is an intercultural experience that gives visitors the opportunity to experience life in Nicaragua. This homestay model, which has been successful in other parts of Nicaragua, reaches into the heart of the communities where visitors stay.
In 2002, Equal Exchange helped to foster a relationship between CECOCAFEN and our Interfaith program partners Lutheran World Relief and Catholic Relief Services to create "La Ruta del Café" (the Route of Coffee) in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. This program has helped producers diversify their incomes, provide education to the visitors about co-operatives and Fair Trade, and has provided an intercultural experience for both the producers and visitors. This model of ecotourism may prove to be a more cost-effective way to promote the natural beauty of Nueva Segovia and could serve as a launch pad for future ecological development through a hotel or perhaps those fantastic hot springs!
Read about one Equal Exchanger's homestay in Susucayan |
Neyron Pevalta Rodriquez, agronomist working with PROCOCER
Coffee plants
Model of new dry mill
Eber Bermeo Tocto cupping coffee | |
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Farmer Partners 
