Here's what Raw Materials the importer of this coffee have to say about it:
In Mexico, our work is based in Oaxaca and Chiapas. From afar, Mexico is a growing economic force, ranked 64th globally in GDP per capita. However, the coffee-producing states in southern Mexico face a very different economic reality. Oaxaca and Chiapas are the two poorest states in Mexico with poverty rates of 60-80% and extreme poverty rates of 20-40%.
Chiapas is Mexico’s poorest state. It also has the largest indigenous population and is the country’s biggest producer of coffee. The average yield is higher here than in Oaxaca, but the local market price is lower.
The vast majority of Mexico’s 500,000 coffee producers are smallholder farmers and have one hectare or less of land under coffee. This makes the average annual production for many producers just 100kg, making coffee farming more and more unsustainable. This is fuelling widespread migration to urban centres in Mexico and the United States. In short, coffee production is disappearing.
Eliazim is 40 years old and has been working with coffee for 20 years. He has two coffee fields of 1Ha each. He planted them in 2011, with the help of the family and other people from the community. He has Bourbon, Caturra, Anacafé 14, Obatá and Sarchimor varieties.
During harvest, the coffee is picked by paid workers from neighbouring communities and the fermentation and drying is done by Eliazim, his wife and his daughters. Out of harvest the fields get cleaned, pruned and fertilised the shade is controlled. Coffee is the family´s only source of income and the earnings get reinvested in the coffee and used to ensure the wellbeing of the family. Eliazim usually keeps 50kg of coffee for the family.
