Guerrero

In Guerrero, farmers have very small lots growing their coffee in forests surrounding their homes in much the same way that a lot of Ethiopian coffee is. Coffee trees are grown in the wilds around the farmers home alongside other crops and flora. This creates a default biodiversity. This is an ancient practice of the indigenous producers in the area, where tradition and spirituality combine to benefit the product and the environment. This form of agroforestry has now been proven to increase farm productivity and profitability, reduce soil erosion, create wildlife habitat, improve soil structure, and help with carbon sequestration – the storing of carbon dioxide. In simple terms this means that carbon dioxide is captured by the forest and essentially stored underground, reducing the farm's impact on global warming. Guerrero has long been overlooked by the Mexican Government and communities here have historically been very vulnerable to cartels. Coffee farmers were only able to sell to coyotes who would often cheat or go back on promises. This history meant it took a lot of work for our friends at Ensambles to build trust in this region. But over the years working in the region they, and we, have seen improvements to the communities and a desire to invest in improving the quality of their crop each year.