What Challenges are the Small Coffee-Farmers Facing?
LOW PRICES
Currently the price of coffee has dropped to very low levels. It’s especially felt by smallholder farmers who receive less than $25.00 per quintal (100lbs) of cherry coffee in the last two harvests.
ABANDONMENT
There is a lack of institutional support for smallholder farmers. There are not many options for providing technical assistance even if the intention to do it is there. There are no insurance options so farmers tend to rely on their own limited resources.
LACK OF ACCESS
Smallholder farmers have a hard time accessing useful and important information, financing, and markets. Smallholder farmers don’t really know where their coffee ends up and sometimes they are not even aware of the quality they produce (which can be superb).