Empowering Coffee Farmers Through Social Enterprise in Guatemala

Buena Tierra is a social enterprise established in 2018 by Good Neighbors to provide a concrete foundation and platform where local farmers can work for fair prices and under fair terms.

The local farmers cooperating with Buena Tierra gained access to advanced sales and marketing channels and vocational training opportunities.

Buena Tierra serves as the vital link between local producers with local and global buyers to eradicate the disadvantages brought by information asymmetry and lack of production facilities and warehousing system. Moreover, Buena Tierra has also been providing a youth training program that allows youth to learn and practice their work skills.

In 2022, Buena Tierra partnered with 60 local producers, providing them a competitive marketing channel. That year, this social enterprise successfully exported 19.32 tons of green coffee beans. Additionally, they established a 7,826 m2 nursery space dedicated to the cultivation of special coffee varieties. Significantly, small-scale farmers experienced a remarkable 67% increase in coffee production per plot.

Furthermore, selling their coffee to Buena Tierra resulted in a 67% improvement in prices for the farmers. These positive outcomes instilled confidence and pride among the farmers, who take pride in seeing their products being sold and enjoyed in other countries.

Vivian, a dedicated coffee farmer from Pajales I, Acatenango, Guatemala, expresses her satisfaction with the cooperative: “I am happy to be part of the coffee cooperative and work with Buena Tierra because I know that the payment for my coffee is safe, and that has made more farmers want to participate.”

Buena Tierra plans to expand its sales channels to the United States and UAE as well as countries within the European Union. This expansion is expected to contribute more to improving the lives of the local community through scaled-up social and economic impacts.