Empower Peru's Robusta Coffee Pioneers

Support Peru's Robusta Coffee Revolution: Donate, share, and be a key player in building a sustainable coffee future production in Peru!

Hi. I am Lukas Harbig, director of the German NGO Qoffee Qulture. For the last 10 years, I have been working with Peruvian coffee farmers through internships, my studies , charity work and green coffee trade.

Climate Change is making Arabica coffee production in Peru increasingly difficult. Farmers are already suffering from extreme weather phenomenona, which destroy entire coffee harvests. For the already poor farmers, this is a catastrophe, and things are getting worse.

Photo 1: Arabica coffee plants, Catimor variety, defoliated by the coffee leaf rust. 1.200 masl, San Martin, Peru 2023.

One promising solutions can be Robusta coffee, which is still very little known in Peru. In 2023, we partnered with two coffee cooperatives and the German funding partner SEZ Baden-Württemberg, and planted 70.000 Robusta coffee plants, more than 2.000 shade trees and additional fruits on 22.5 ha of land owned by 29 farmers. These plants replaced grassland and dead Arabica coffee. Through the project , the new Robusta coffee agroforests store tons of carbon and hold the promise of a more resilient coffee production under future extreme weather conditions. If successful, many more farmers will follow and together develop a less vulnerable, more sustainable Peruvian coffee industry with Robusta coffee. While doing so, they might reforest hundreds of hectares of land.

Photo 2: Three hectares of Robusta coffee plants (6000) and shade trees (300) planted over previous grassland through our project in San Martin, Peru. 2023.

But the project will only succeed, if the farmers can produce decent quality and hence sell at a profitable price. The farmer's knowledge about Arabica coffee production is not enough to ensure this goal, because Robusta coffee is quite different to Arabica coffee. These physical, biological and chemical differences need to be understood to adapt the fermentation and drying processes the farmers have known from Arabica to the new coffee genus. Without the knowledge, the production of high quality will be difficult.

Photo 3: The properties of Robusta Coffee are quite different to Arabica Coffee. Peruvian farmers don't know much about these differences. Villa Rica, Peru. 2023.

This is where the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) enters. During the last months, together we have been developing a solid plan to donate Peru's first Q Robusta Processing Level 2 course to 24 farmers and technicians at the CEPRO Yanesha cooperative in Villa Rica, Peru. This internationally well received course will pave the way for Peru's Fine Robusta pioneers. During one week, they will learn everything about Robusta Coffee production, in theory and practice. As far as we know, the CEPRO Yanesha cooperative is the only place in Peru, where we can realize the course, as they are the only ones who can deliver enough Robusta coffee cherries for the practical part of the course.

Photo 4: The Marin family not only runs the CEPRO Yanesha cooperative, working with Robusta coffee in the indigenous Yanesha communities. They also grow Robusta themselves and are the first in Peru to commercialize it as Robusta. Villa Rica, Peru. 2023.

After one of our financing partners left the project, we now have little time left to fund the project, until the Robusta coffee harvest season ends in February. For the farmers who have already planted 70.000 plants in San Martin, it is important to know about appropriate production, before their plants will produce the first harvest in 2024/2025.

This is why Peru's Robusta coffee pioneers need YOU to help make the project happen NOW!

Photo 5: Will this farmer be able to produce high quality robusta? The quality will determinate the price and hence will have an impact on his family's livelihood. Villa Rica, Peru, 2023.

Your support is crucial in ensuring the success of this project before time runs out. By donating today, you become an integral part of Peru's Robusta coffee pioneers, helping them overcome the challenges of climate change and creating a more sustainable and resilient coffee industry. Share this GoFundMe with your network to amplify the impact. Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to our goal.

As a charitable NGO, we'll gladly provide a donation receipt for contributions over 50€. Thank you for your generosity, for spreading the word, and for being a vital part of this transformative journey.

For each donation >500€, we can incorporate the logo of your company and/or your personal message on the "Robusta Wall of Fame", so the benefitted farmers can connect with you and appreciate your efforts.

All the best,

Lukas