By Asha Sharma

This summer, I went abroad to Pacto, Ecuador, an agrarian town in the cloud forest of Ecuador, to conduct a farmer training and a cost of production survey with coffee farmers. This work was completed to help inform the organization Sun Mountain International’s strategy for development in the region. This project was funded by the Research and Innovation Fellowship for Agriculture (RIFA), Henry A. Jastro Research Award and the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas.  I completed this work alongside my colleagues Katie Von Der Lieth, a fellow IAD graduate student, and Alyssa DeVincentis, a hydrology PhD student. Together we completed about 20 cost of production surveys of coffee farmers that analyzed returns to labor, returns to land, cost of producing coffee per pound and per hectare, and net income. Additionally, we asked farmers what diseases, pests and other agronomic issues they face when growing coffee.

While conducting the survey, we found many farmers had questions about how to properly dispose of wet coffee processing waste products, like pulp and waste water. Additionally, we observed a general lack of knowledge of practices that increase soil health and nutrient availability. The same was true of post-harvest practices, which can significantly affect the quality of the coffee. Furthermore, many farmers were not keeping a detailed record of their annual costs and production. Therefore, we designed a farmer training that addressed four principle areas: financial literacy, post-harvest practices, soil health and waste water treatment. In the post-training survey, all attendees indicated the training was useful, and there was a 40% increase in scores between the pre- and post-training quizzes that farmers completed.

I benefitted greatly from participating in this project, both professionally and personally. First and foremost, I was able to gain real-world, on-the-ground experience that showed me the challenges of being a small farmer growing a major agricultural commodity. I was also able to improve my Spanish and be included in this close-knit community, even if just for a few months. I look forward to visiting Ecuador in the future!