Bolivia: Program aims to replace coca with coffee crops

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “We know that coffee is in international demand, it is for mass consumption, so we are right to be involved in this activity,” says Rubén Corina, leader of the coffee-growing communities.

French company Malongo, an organic coffee producer and leader in fair and solidarity trade, bought 3 containers from these local communities over the last 2 years. The goal is to expand to 20 containers per year in 5 years.

“It is not unrealistic, 400 tons is 20 containers, I would say it is the minimum for the company to be profitable and for coffee growers to have a good income from their production,” says Malongo commercial manager Jean Christophe Galland.

Malongo says that the 20 annual containers could become 50 in the not too distant future, equivalent to the purchase of almost 1,000 tons of coffee per year, the country’s entire current coffee production.

“This is an alternative, it is an option that provides socio-economic development for the municipality and also mitigates the negative impact of surplus coca,” says Thierry Rostand, Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Bolivia, and one of the promoters of this trade agreement, along with the French government.

Removing the coffee husk in machines is one of the stages, which, like the rest, must be properly executed to guarantee the quality of an exceptional and full Arabica coffee that can be used for both percolation and espresso.

“A coffee with very interesting notes, with a pleasant lingering in the palate, powerful, chocolate and a hint of berries,” Malongo CEO Jean Pierre Blanc says.

La Asunta coffee has begun to be roasted and packaged by Malongo in Nice and is being sold in France, Switzerland, Belgium and England.