Coop Nahuala

Info on other Guatemala cooperatives

  Fast Facts on Coop Nahuala

135 members in 10 community, 100 have organic production
In 2007 they exported 2 containers of fair trafe and organic coffee
For 2008, they plan to export 3 of organic and fair trade coffee and
2 containers of transitional
Altitude of plots between 1,200 and 1,500 ft
Founded in 1965, Joined FLO register in 2001
Their general assembly and anniversary are in March
Future-- Expand membership, wet mill fully functional

Headquartered in the quaint village of Pasac, Coop Nahuala, which means “spirit of the river”, is about a one hour drive up the Nahuala River basin on Guatemala's pacific slope. The gravel road to Nahuala leaves Santo Thomas La Union winding its way up to Belen where it narrows to a one lane track that dead end's in a heavily forested coffee growing valley. The cooperative's leaders proudly point out the dense forest that covers the surrounding hills and note that they have reforested most of this area – their coffee plots lie hidden.

The cooperative was formed in 1965 with assistance from the Santo Tomás la Unión parroquia and the agriculture extension agent to help address the extreme poverty found in this remote area. Originally every person in the community was a member of the cooperative, but organizational difficulties resulted in membership dwindling to about twenty members. In 1994, cooperative leaders learned of the Max Havelar (now the Fairtrade Labeling Organization) program and began reorganizing to explore exporting through fair trade relationships. Through slow but steady growth and planning, the cooperative has grown to 127 member families which are organized into 10 community groups.

In 2005, Cooperative Coffees purchased the first container of fair trade coffee that they have exported directly since their reorganization. In 2006, their export production grew from 2 to 5 containers of coffee in spite of low yields due to problems associated with Hurricane Stan. The cooperative has built a storage warehouse and wet mill and are preparing for continuing growth. More families are joining the cooperative and the near term goal of production is to grow to 10 exported containers a year as quickly as possible.

For 2008, their main priorities are to have pre-financing and the selection of new members.

The cooperative is particularly interested in alternative income project and grows bananas and maixán (used to cover tamales) for sale in local markets. They have experimented with raising tilapia as an additional source of protein and have started a honey project. The cooperative also manages a very successful worm composting project with members of the coop eligible to purchase compost fertilizer from the coop at very reasonable prices.

Their board of director is now constituted of Francisco Tzoc Guarchaj, president; Manuel Guarchaj, secretario; and Diego Tahay Guarchaj, treasurer.

Check out more photos of our farmer partner, Nahuala.

Certifications:
Nahuala Organic Certification 2007
Nahuala Orgainc Certicifcation 2006
Nahuala Organic Production Cert 2006
Nahuala Organic Transaction Cert 2006