USAID Supports Export Quality Coffee Production in Baní

USAID Supports Export Quality Coffee Production in Baní
Santo Domingo, 11/18/2010

A total of 566 small coffee producers in Baní benefitted from the construction of infrastructure and equipment acquisition to be used to dry coffee which will help the growers increase their processing capacity to export high quality coffee.

This initiative seeks to improve the quality of coffee through an adequate management of the phases of the coffee-producing process which will permit the growers to obtain better prices for the products in the international market in the areas of specialized coffee brands

These achievements are part of the “Improvement Project for Quality Coffee by Adding Value in the Drying Sector,” which is being carried out the Community Action of Coffee Producers Movement (MOVICAC) with the support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

This initiative seeks to improve the quality of coffee through an adequate management of the phases of the coffee-producing process which will permit the growers to obtain better prices for the products in the international market in the areas of specialized coffee brands. As part of this project, some ten 18-meter tunnel-type dryers were built in addition to a sun drier area of 2,300 square meters.

The coffee-drying process consists of cleaning the coffee and separating the buds from the sticks, stones, leaves, and branches to later select the grains by taking into account the quality. To do that, a special coffee selection machine is used to pick out the grains based on size and color. The cost of the project was $5.6 million pesos, of which the US government contributed $2.6 million pesos through the USAID.

“The specialized coffee market is very demanding and for this reason training small producers with infrastructure and equipment is an efficient way to prepare them to play a competitive role in this demanding market niche of high quality, specialized coffee,” said Duty Greene, Advisor of Economic Policies of USAID.

With these new installations, MOVICAC hopes to increase its 2009-2010 harvest by some 4,500 quintals (equivalent to 100 kilos). Some producers were also trained in good drying practices. The USAID supported them in the strengthening of their institutional image through the construction of a locale that included offices for processing, classifying coffee grains and a laboratory for physical analysis.

In the past, the USAID Rural Economic Diversification Project supported the MOVICAC producers with an operations post for 14 organic humid and drying areas in various communities in the province of Peravia. “These infrastructures guarantee the management of some 3,600 quintals of coffee. They are also expecting an increase in production through this new project of up to 4,500 quintals of export quality coffee,” according to a report related to this USAID project.

USAID

USAID, through grants provided under the Rural Economic Diversification Project, supports small, collective investments of up to 2.5 million pesos to clusters and organizations of producers with the aim of stimulating rural economic diversification. Fifty-one grants have been made through this mechanism to organizations or producer associations for a total of 100.4 million pesos. For their part, the beneficiary groups have contributed 144.5 million pesos in cash or goods for a total investment of 244.9 million pesos.
Community Action of Coffee Producers Movement (MOVICAC)

The Community Action of Coffee Producers Movement (MOVICAC) is a non-profit association of small to medium-sized coffee producers and communities incorporated on February 7, 2003. It has 566 members. Since its founding, MOVICAC has exported directly to Belgium and Japan in addition to local coffee sales.