Data collection phase in Colombia successfully concluded

In early October, the second phase of TRANS SUSTAIN’s multi-country project drew to a close as the last of over 700 responses to the team’s questionnaire arrived from Colombia. This achievement increases the overall number of observations gathered to just around 1,300, with one data collection phase (in Costa Rica) still to follow.

The Colombian phase kicked off with a visit of the implementation areas by two TRANS SUSTAIN team members, Andrea Estrella and Janina Grabs. Flying into Medellin, the team visited various cooperatives in the traditional Colombian coffee belt whose producers participated in the survey. The field visits gave ample opportunity to test the questionnaire and adapt it to the local circumstances, as well as to interview cooperative leaders, agronomists and coffee farmers about current challenges and opportunities in coffee growing.

In a second step, the team met with various coffee sector experts in the capital Bogota, including the economic team of the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros (National Coffee Producers’ Federation), to present the project and gather more information. Other interview partners included coffee exporters, consultants and local consumption and marketing experts.

With the help of a local data collection team, the project was then able to gather information about the production practices and socio-economic conditions of a cross-section of small family farmers that are certified with a variety of Voluntary Sustainability Standards. This data will help cooperatives in their estimation of the cost-benefit ratio of participating in one of these standards, as well as inform consumers of the added environmental and social benefits of certification. The data is currently being cleaned and formatted and preliminary results are expected toward the end of the year.