ADROH PEASANTS : NON - CERTIFIED ORGANIC COFFEE PRODUCERS

farmer peasants, mostly of Lenca indigenous origin, spread over three

departments in the border areas to El Salvador: Intibucá, Lempira and La Paz (see map on page 2). Only La Paz members are part of the project which initiated the organic farming. According to numbers from the DF, 110 (both male and female) peasants participated in the project. The participants lived in nine communities in the municipality of Opatoro and in one community in the municipality of Santa Ana (See map 2 and 3). They are mainly subsistence farmers, cultivating maize and beans. Aiming to improving the life quality of the farmers through the introduction of new agricultural techniques and crops, the project was initiated in 1999, and included one institutional and one productive part. This thesis will focus on the productive part of the project. When fieldwork was carried out between November 2006 and February 2007, the project had lasted for seven years and was in its concluding phase. One project coordinator and one assistant to the project coordinator are still employed on the project, but the peasants now receive little technical support for their production.

2.1.1 Adaptation of organic techniques in vegetable and bean cultivation The project was divided in two, with the first part (1999-2002) dedicated to the introduction of new techniques (such as minimum tillage and the incorporation of residues) in the maize fields, and organic techniques in the vegetable and bean production. The most important organic technique was an originally Japanese type of organic fertilizer called bocachi. The bocachi is elaborated with

ingredients which mostly can be found in the surroundings, such as mountainous soil and residues from maize, and are collected in a mound that needs to be moved once a day (twice the first week) for two to three weeks, before it can be applied on the fields. Other organic techniques applied were live barriers and pesticides elaborated by plants such as chilli.

In the second phase of the project (2001 to present), the ADROH peasants started cultivating organic coffee and potatoes, and started to experiment with the cultivation of vegetables that were irrigated with small irrigation systems. The micro irrigation systems are simple, using natural water flow and flexible tubes for irrigation, but allows for vegetable growing during the rain free months of January to May.

Part of the project among ADROH farmers was to start production of organic vegetables, but it was proven difficult to combat diseases in vegetables without chemicals (Moya et.al 2006). Fieldwork showed that few of the ADROH peasants interviewed grew organic vegetables or beans without any use of

artificial fertilizer. It is important to note that even though the project started in 1999, some of the participants entered the project as late as in 2002, and still experimenting with the techniques. The leader of one of the farmers groups expresses that they until now have used agrochemicals in the crops that are meant for commercialisation and that the use of organic fertilizer is still on a level of experimentation. Others grow vegetables with organic fertilizer on small plots for subsistence or sale in the community. One problem mentioned by the peasants, however, is that the organic products are smaller and therefore harder to sell than vegetables and tubers grown with agrochemicals. When the vegetables were certified as organic, some brought them to the town of Marcala for sale through the store managed by RAOS. However, price was nearly the same as in the communities, while the producer had to pay for the transportation.

Interestingly, in the interviews some farmers state that they use a mix of agrochemical and organic fertilization on their micro irrigated fields – and that this combination gives good results. The observation suggests that the farmers

who produce vegetables for sale prefer not to grow strictly with organic fertilizer, but that they find it useful in combination with artificial fertilizer.

As explained in the introduction, this mix of different techniques in different crops was interesting, but hard to get an overview of and to record during a few months of fieldwork. I also noticed that many of the participants, who were still active in the project, were cultivating coffee, and it became clear that coffee cultivation was in a position on its own, since the peasants had been certified and had intended to sell their coffee as organic, but had ceased to do so.

As we shall see, ADROH and APROCAMP coffee producers had different experiences with sales of organic coffee, and this provided a possibility to compare these two. Gradually my interest turned towards understanding the cultivation and sale of organic coffee.

2.1.2 Organic coffee

In 2001, ADROH peasants started to produce organic coffee. Project funding paid for the organic certification from 2003 to 2006, and the peasants did not renew their certification again at their own expense. The reasons for this were the high costs of certification and the reluctance to follow the requirements for

certification, such as keeping records over the production. Because of the poor organization between the farmers, as well as limited knowledge about organic certification, group certification was difficult.

The ADROH peasant farmers intended to sell their coffee on the Fair Trade market through the local Fair Trade cooperative of RAOS (Red de Agricultores Orgánicos de la Sierra). However, due to difficulties related to transportation, payment system and the low production, the intent was abandoned. At present, the farmers continue to cultivate their coffee as non-certified organic, and sell it to the local buyers of coffee, referred to as

middlemen, or coyotes. The producers are content enough to have a cash crop to sell, to keep their coffee for consumption and be able to fertilize their coffee without purchasing artificial fertilizer.

2.2 Case study: Fundación Bahncafé and APROCAMP; organic,