Fintrac Harvest Fall/Winter 2008

New mills, cupping assistance help perk up Salvadoran coffee

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Fintrac is improving coffee quality in El Salvador and helping farmers reach global markets through select value chain interventions that range from the introduction of biological pest controls and new processing technologies, to training in specialty coffee selection for international cupping competitions. And it’s all being achieved through capacity- building partnerships with local BDS providers.Photo by Fintrac staff Fintrac improved Gebre Yohannes Asgedom’s yields and lowered production costs by introducing him to new farming techniques.

Biological Alternatives
In implementing the USAID-funded Agricultural Diversification Program (ADP), Fintrac is helping PROCAFE, a private Salvadoran coffee research institute, to produce and promote Beauveria bassiana, a fungus found in soil, as a safe, organic alternative to the dangerous pesticides traditionally used to fight the coffee berry borer that damages upto 35 percent of coffee harvests.

“Five of my workers went to the hospital during last year ’s [pesticide] application period. They stop fumigating at 2 p.m. and they’re sick by 5 p.m.,” said Ramiro Gonzales, a coffee grower of 20 years.

Fintrac ADP co-financed a new PROCAFE laboratory to produce Beauveria in large quantities and distribute it on a national level. The organization is now capable of producing more than 36,000 pounds each year, enough to protect more than 25,000 hectares and prevent an estimated $2.1 million in annual losses. Preliminary field tests show a 60 to 70 percent reduction in damage caused by the coffee berry borer.

Milling Machines
Ever since the crash in coffee prices in 2001, the 350-member ATAISI Coffee Cooperative in Sonsonate, El Salvador, found it hard to make a profit. They wanted to increase the quality of their processed coffee and minimize production costs but could not afford to replace their 55-year old coffee mill, which used water and power inefficiently and produced a low quality product.

Fintrac cost-shared the purchase of a wet coffee mill capable of processing more than 11,000 pounds of high quality green coffee beans per hour. The machine is designed to significantly reduce water dependence in the de-pulping process and use less energy in the milling process.

With the new coffee mill, ATAISI significantly increased profits and minimized environmental impact. Water used during milling dropped from 87 gallons to 25 gallons per 100 pounds of coffee, a 71 percent reduction. The cooperative is also saving on electricity costs because the mill uses less power to pump water during processing. And, because the mill cleans coffee beans more efficiently, drying is faster.

Because of these improvements, processing costs have dropped $11.32 per 100 pounds, saving the cooperative $120,954 per harvest season.

Quality Selection
Fintrac supported local partners PROCAFE and the Salvadoran Coffee Council in organizing and promoting training for, and participation in, a countrywide pre-screening for the Cup of Excellence, an international coffee tasting competition. Samples scoring well in the pre-screening move into second and third rounds of rigorous scrutiny, judged by international cuppers – and those ultimately earning one of the prestigious awards are put on the auction block, earning top dollar for outstanding quality.

Largely as a result of Fintrac’s collaborative training and promotion efforts with BDS partners, the number of Salvadoran competitors in the competition this year increased 24 percent from 2007. Five samples were sold at auction, and one, a first-time entry produced by Fintrac client Jose Fidel Salgado Pacheco of Alegría, Usulután, scored in the top 10. His sample of 828 kilograms sold for $10,587, or $5.81 per pound.