An initiative to support women coffee producers.

Women play a vital role, taking part in every stage of the supply chain but often handling the most time-consuming, most seasonal and lowest-paid tasks (like sowing, harvesting and sorting). Studies show that when women manage household income, there are many benefits: better child education, health, economic stability and overall family wellbeing.

This year, we are celebrating Christmas with Oscar Daza's coffees, our partner in Colombia since 2017. 

A few years ago, Belco and producer Oscar Daza (owner and manager of La Pradera) decided to invest in the purchase of a plot of land (under the project name “Pilos Del Café”) backing onto the local public school in Aratoca.

On this plot, the school's students learn about agronomy and agroecology and discover all the stages of coffee production, from planting to processing. The coffees produced on this plot enable the school to continue operating year after year.

This year, we want to treat the school children to a festive Christmas snack and finance the planting of young Laurina coffee trees, a rare variety, on their plot.

For every kilo of coffee you buy, €0.10 will be donated to the Christmas project for the children—and Belco will double the amount!

→ That's €0.20 raised for every kilo sold.

Together, let's make every cup a concrete gesture for the communities that grow your coffee.

For 10 years, we have been taking practical action to protect and develop forests through our Forest Coffees® brand

Forest Coffees® are ultra-high-quality coffees grown in well-preserved environments. Our trademark recognizes the know-how of local farmers and their in-depth knowledge of coffee agroforestry techniques. It illustrates the model’s environmental, social and economic merits.

Agroforestry allows farmers to diversify their income: agricultural production, timber and firewood, fodder, fruit, honey, etc. And thus reduce the vulnerability of the producer with less dependence on a single crop. The impact on biodiversity and soil quality is also considerable.

Fresh Coffee Clean Ocean: Our brand that guarantees you a decarbonized sea transport by 70 to 90% for your coffees.

Meeting El Maestro: Don Herbert Betancourt

Nazimu Abamecha is a passionate coffee farmer. He grows Jimma Forest coffee on his 12.7 hectares farm, which is divided into 3 plots: Bake Suphe, Kile and Abachebsa. The coffee plants are surrounded by native tree species ranging from 30 to over 180 years old! Biodiversity is preserved in this dense forest with endangered trees including the Qararo (ቀረሮ). The farm is named after Nazimu's great grandfather, Abachebsa, who established the farm over a hundred years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Jimma is a land of coffee origins. This appellation benefits from a rich natural environment where coffee grows mainly in the shade of large endemic trees, in the heart of the forests. The coffee produced here offers fine quality cups and an inspiring agricultural model. Yet this appellation has been a little slow to join the international speciality coffee scene. The work of local producers and the organisation of these coffee growers has revealed the potential of Jimma coffees, ensuring traceability and quality.

In Gomma, coffee has been produced for centuries by small-scale farmers with traditional skills. By growing their coffee in the forest, they are perpetuating the region's agricultural heritage. The coffee trees in Goma come from the Choche forest, which legend has it is the place where coffee originated. At an altitude of 2,000 metres, the plots are developed using a mixed farming model that combines food and cash crops.

The industry is segmented according to the different stages of production: growers, collectors and exporters. The growers deliver their cherries to collectors (akrabi), who own the necessary washing and drying stations to process cherries and parchment. Each collector is licenced to operate in a specific woreda (district). Growers also dry some cherries for sale to collectors of husks (djenfel), to create grade 4 and 5 natural lots. Some have their own stations and process their own cherries; these are generally farmers owning more than 35 hectares of land.&nbsp;
The collectors then deliver their lots to the ECX (Ethiopian Commodity Exchange) auction market, or directly to exporters under a vertical integration contract. Each grower, collector and exporter must have its own licence. It is possible for one person to own all licences.&nbsp;
Foreigners are not entitled to apply for a licence, but are authorised to operate as agents (Commercial Representative Office, or CRO). Those with investor status can own a plantation of at least 150 hectares and export their own production.&nbsp;

<ul>
<li>Station de lavage de Tatmara</li>
<li>Gestion de la canopée (Jimma, Kaffa)</li>
</ul>

Ethiopia is Arabica’s country of origin. It offers a rich mix of terroirs, biodiversity and practices that are unlike any other in the world of coffee. The high-altitude rainforests in the south-western region of present-day Ethiopia are where Arabica coffee originated from. Farmers still use these forests to grow coffee, in more or less complex agroforestry systems.&nbsp;
The Kaffa and Yayu biosphere reserves are now protected by UNESCO. Thousands of unidentified varieties grow there. 150 have been identified, and 35 are distributed by the Jimma Research Centre (JRC). They serve as a reservoir, a bit like a savings account, from which both JRC researchers and growers can draw to manage diseases such as rust or adapt to new growing altitudes and climate change. Wild coffee trees grow in nature at altitudes of 500 to 2,400 metres.&nbsp;
Local farmers have used their in-depth knowledge of the forests to develop original, resilient farming systems. The Jimma-Limmu-Gera, Nekemte and Kaffa appellation areas in the south-west and the Guji and West Arsi appellation areas to the south are dominated by a semi-forest system. In southern (Yirgacheffe, Sidama) and eastern (Harrar) Ethiopia, there are mostly orchards (gardens), with varying degrees of agroforestry adoption. Coffee is grown mainly in the highlands in southern and south-western Ethiopia, at altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 2,400 metres. Harvesting often coincides with the dry season, which means that all the coffees we supply can be sun-dried on tables.

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