ASOBAGRI (Asociación Barillense de Agricultores) was established in 1989 by a group of 20 smallholders within the K'Anjob'Al Mayan community of Huehuetenango; today it has nearly 1200 members, representing nearly 70 different indigenous Mayan communities. All of the active members are fully organic certified, and there are another 200 farmers who are in transition to achieve their certification.
The cooperative uses its certification premiums from its Fair Trade and organic coffees to provide member services such as women-producer-specific aid and events, health-care initiatives, educational access to members' children, emergency planning and funxing, and microcredits. The co-op has also invested in solar drying tables and variety replacement with coffees that are more robust in the face of coffee-leaf rust, which has been severely damaging in Guatemala in the past decade.
For more information about coffee production in Guatemala, visit our Guatemala Origin Page.
