DIVERSIFICATION
Imagine expecting to feed your family on income from a monoculture farm that is harvested once per year, whose crop price is impacted by a global commodity market, and is susceptible to plague and weather irregularities. To top it off, you don't have access to the direct market and have to work through middlemen who rely on the "buy low, sell high" model to make a healthy living.
These variables are why coffee farmers have struggled socioeconomically for decades. As we've learned, most small, remote farmers in Latin America have suffered the same inequities. Now we've seen many struggle with maintaining quality due to climate change. They need to adapt to survive, and that adaptation is the diversification of crops and sources of income.
As part of Mayorga's vision to support small farmers, we believe in encouraging them to diversify their crops. This may include a coffee farmer in Nicaragua planting chia or black beans in the sun-exposed part of their land or a farmer in Honduras cutting down their lower elevation coffee to plant quality cacao.
