Sustainability at Finca Tamana
Friday Morning I had a meeting with Elias about the future plans of Finca Tamana.
We agreed that for now he needs to focus on building more drying space, build tables for cherry sorting in order to make the work environment better for the pickers. He will also be planting 3 more hectars of coffee in order to increase production.
As a long term goal we agreed that he will be implementing the following at the farm:
1. Start making compost with the coffee pulp and cow and chicken manure on the farm. As for now Elias is only using chemical fertilizer yet he has a lot of organic fertilizer available at the farm. We decided he is going to start implementing organic fertilizer in certain lots on the farm to see how it performs.
2. Implement water filtration for the processing water. Washing coffee consumes a lot of the spring water at the farm. This pollutes the drinking water and also the soil at the farm. With a simple 3 tank filter system the water can easily be filtrated in order to decrease the environmental impact of processing. We will also be looking at new processing equipment in the future in order to reduce water waste from 8 – 10 liters per kg to 1 liter per kg.
3. Start producing more food at the farm. The farm has a lot of available land and Marta, the cook at the farm, was very excited about the idea that she could grow her own herbs, vegetables and fruits at the farm. Now they are driving 1,5 hours to Garzon to buy vegetables, yet they could be growing it for a much lower cost at the farm. This will not only save costs but also help improve the work environment for the workers at the farm.
4. Set up more bee hives and start producing honey. At this moment there are two bee hives at the farm producing great honey from coffee flowers and the surrounding fauna. Yet noone is harvesting the honey as nobody knows how to do it and they don’t have proper protective clothes. I suggested getting 4 more hives and to start harvesting the honey in order to sell it to us. If you havent tried honey made of coffee flowers yet, you are in for a treat. Not only is it important to contribute to increase the bee population in the world but the bees will hopefully help pollinate the coffee flowers and help increase the coffee production. (Although this will probably have a small, almost unnoticeable effect as coffee flowers are self pollinating.)
5. Stop using round up and chemical weed killers. I really don’t believe in killing weeds with chemicals. The soil is depending on microorganisms and organic material to stay healthy. Chemicals are made to kill not to bring the soil to life. Elias agreed to stop using chemical weed removers and to only remove weeds by machines and machetes.
6. Get more cows and chicken. Start producing more eggs, milk and cheese for the workers to eat. The manure can be used for fertilizers.
7. Start keeping accounts. Elias has very little control over his spendings and cash flow. In order to know how much he can invest and spend and in order to prevent the necessity of expensive liquidity loans during harvest, I suggested that he should learn how to keep accounts. Most likely his wife will take control over this part of the business as she seems to be better with numbers and also has the discipline to stick to a budget.
There are of course more things we need to implement, but everything cost money and during harvest times, Elias has his hands full with the pickers, processing, etc. Hopefully within 5 years all these and more changes have been made in order to make the farm more sustainable and self sufficient.