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High-End Coffee and Smallholding Growers in Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Edward F. Fischer  and
Bart Victor
Edward F. Fischer
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University
Bart Victor
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University
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Abstract

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Coffee production in Guatemala has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last twenty years. Changing tastes among northern consumers have driven new demand for high-quality Strictly Hard Bean coffees that are grown above 4,500 feet. As a result, many of the large, lower-altitude plantations long synonymous with coffee in Guatemala have abandoned production, moving into rubber, African palm, and other crops. At least 50,000 mostly smallholding farmers in the highlands have begun growing coffee to fill this market niche. Building on a capabilities approach to development, this article examines how smallholding Guatemalan producers' desires for a better future orient their engagement with this new market. Most of these small producers live in very modest circumstances with limited resources and opportunities. Yet, as they describe it, coffee represents an opportunity in a context of few opportunities, an imperfect means to a marginally better life.

Resumen

Resumen

La producción de café en Guatemala se ha transformado dramáticamente en los últimos veinte años. El gusto ha cambiado entre los consumidores del Norte, lo cual ha llevado a una nueva demanda en cafés de alta calidad denominada “estrictamente dura”, que se cultivan a más de 4,500 pies de altura. Como resultado, muchas de las grandes fincas típicamente asociadas con el café guatemalteco han abandonado la producción del mismo, dedicándose ahora a el caucho, palma africana y otros cultivos. Al menos cincuenta mil campesinos, la mayoría pequeños propietarios del altiplano, han comenzado el cultivo del café para llenar este nicho de mercado. Basado en la teoría de capacidades para el desarrollo, este artículo examina cómo los deseos de pequeños productores guatemaltecos para un futuro mejor orientan su compromiso con este nuevo mercado. La mayoría de estos pequeños productores viven en circunstancias muy modestas, con recursos y oportunidades limitados. Sin embargo, como describimos, el café representa una oportunidad en un contexto de pocas oportunidades, una vía imperfecta hacia una vida un mejor.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , 2014 , pp. 155 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

This research was supported by the Vanderbilt Institute for Coffee Studies (ICS) and Anacafé. Anacafé provided field assistance and access to their database of producers, from which the researchers independently selected the sample reported on here. Survey questions were developed by the authors with assistance from Carlos Pérez-Brito (then of the World Bank) and a team of graduate students including Tatiana Paz, Luis Velásquez, Ixchel Espantzay, Pakal B'alam, and Felipe Girón. Peter Martin at ICS provided important guidance. Bill Hempstead provided invaluable introduction to the contemporary coffee market. Blanca Castro solved all of our logistical difficulties. The comments and suggestions of Michiel Baud, George Lovell, Sarah Lyon, Daniel Reichman, Mareike Sattler, and three anonymous LARR reviewers helped enormously in revising the manuscript.

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