NICARAGUA on Friday, November 22, the 25 small- and medium-scale coffee growers who comprise the Pueblo Nuevo Coffee Cooperative -- together with the 300 farm workers they employ -- will celebrate the completion of their new centralized wet mill. The inauguration ceremonies will be presided over by Nicaragua's Vice Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Bendana, who is himself a coffee farmer and who also serves as president of Nicaragua's Specialty Coffee Association.

The new wet mill will enable Pueblo Nuevo's members to produce coffee beans that can be marketed to buyers of specialty (versus conventional) coffee. It is considered one of the best in the region, with the capacity to process 800,000 pounds of green coffee a year using environmentally friendly technology to reduce waste. With TechnoServe's support, the Cooperative received a $75,000 loan from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) -- through the non-profit organizations NCBA/CLUSA and World Relief -- and an additional loan from a U.S. benefactor to finance its construction. As a result, the Cooperative now has an agreement to sell part of its harvest to a gourmet coffee roaster in the U.S.

TechnoServe helped Pueblo Nuevo's members to oversee construction, streamline their business operations and make market connections with specialty coffee buyers. "These coffee growers have shown a great entrepreneurial vision and a strong dedication to their work and the well-being of their families and community," said Ernest van Panhuys, TechnoServe's country director in Nicaragua. Vice Minister Bendana said that even though the current coffee crisis -- which is affecting millions of growers and workers and their families worldwide -- has been very difficult for Nicaragua's coffee growers, "the [Pueblo Nuevo] Cooperative represents the hope that we have in accessing higher-paying markets by improving quality." Click here to read more.

In Peru on Thursday, November 21, Lamas Coffee S.A., a two-year-old coffee marketing business that TechnoServe helped to create, will inaugurate its new headquarters in Tarapoto. The recently constructed 2,625-square-foot building houses Lamas Coffee's administrative offices, a warehouse and dry-milling facilities. Lamas Coffee financed the building's construction with its own profits and with a bank loan backed by TechnoServe. The new plant is the first and only one in the region to have an excellent ventilation system, a quality-control laboratory, and enough space to transfer and rotate inventory.

Lamas Coffee is owned by 56 small-scale coffee-producers who are also shareholders, and the business purchases coffee beans from an additional 200 small-scale growers. Lamas Coffee has already made inroads in the international coffee market, having sold 23,000 pounds of organic coffee to Seattle's Best, a leading U.S. roaster. With TechnoServe's assistance, in 2002, 107 small-scale growers have earned organic certification, 15 growers have earned bird-friendly certification (certifying the coffee as both organic and shade-grown), and 66 additional growers are in the process of acquiring organic certification.

The plant's inauguration signals a new era of hope for the area's coffee-producing families. "Lamas Coffee's new plant is a big step forward for local coffee growers," said Alvaro Salcedo, TechnoServe's country director in Peru. "The company's members and the other small-scale growers who supply it are now in a position to offer a high-quality product that fetches premium prices."

TechnoServe's coffee work in Nicaragua and Peru is funded by USAID and by the Procter & Gamble Company.

TechnoServe, Inc.

TechnoServe, Inc.

TechnoServe is leading a movement that empowers people in the developing world to build businesses that break the cycle of poverty. Growing enterprises generate jobs and other income opportunities for poor people, enabling them to improve their lives and secure a better future for their families. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or expand thousands of businesses, benefiting millions of people in more than 30 countries. The Financial Times has rated TechnoServe one of the top five NGOs for corporate partnerships. Charity Navigator has also awarded its highest Four Star ranking to TechnoServe.

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