Edwin David Bedoya Ramirez

Edwin David is a 32-year old coffee grower who lives with his wife, son, and stepdaughter in Heliconia. He has been cultivating coffee in his 1-hectare lot for the past 12 years. By being a member of the cooperative, his coffee is Fair Trade certified.

Edwin carries out different practices that improve the sustainability of his farm. For example, he removes the weed manually and intercrops with beans and bananas. As a protection against the high temperatures in summer and for producing organic compost, Edwin David also planted in his farm avocados, guamos, bananas and mangoes. Unfortunately, there is no wastewater treatment in his farm due to the high costs connected to its installation.

Edwin sells most of his coffee to the cooperative as he obtains a better price compared to what private buyers offer. In addition, the cooperative gives him more security and confidence, as well as other benefits. For instance, he has been able to rejuvenate part of his farm and buys subsidised fertiliser from the cooperative. Edwin participated in events organised by the cooperative such as trainings on accounting and good management of a coffee farm and exchange of good practices with other farmers. Moreover, when fertilising, Edwin David uses protective equipment provided by the cooperative.

He identified a few obstacles to his farm production. The main issue is the weather as coffee plants are sensitive to high temperatures and last summers have been remarkably hotter than previous ones. The broca (coffee berry borers) is another big challenge as this pest spreads out during the dry season and is hard to eradicate. In addition, he highlighted the lack of labour offer in harvesting time, as workers are highly demanded at the same time and end up working in the farms located closer to them.

 

 

Edwins coffee farm

Edwin David documents his activities by registering his sales and archiving the receipts obtained in an organised manner. For this reason, he believes he would be able to perform the actions related to the blockchain project. He explains: "I think the idea is very good because everyone will know more about the process involved in the production of coffee. For instance, consumers will be able to see how much chemicals farmers apply and understand that the quality of coffee varies. There are many factors that intervene in the final product quality such as where the coffee comes from, from what altitude and how it is processed and produced. Additionally, this is an encouragement for me to keep producing high quality coffee as people will be able to see it".

 

 

Edwin
Edwin