The ASPROGUATE Co-op consists of approximately 1900 very small producers spread over three different growing areas including Acatenango, Atitlan, and San Martin. By “small producer” we mean each member owns a single hectare or so of land and produces an average of only 3-10 bags of coffee annually.

ASPROGUATE is an acronym for Association of Sustainable Organic Producers in Guatemala. The co-op provides farmers with agronomic support, helping with such things as fertilizers and inputs, pruning practices, and disease and pest control. They also have set up centralized wet mills, or “beneficios”, so producers can have their coffees processed in a timely manner and maintain proper quality separation.

The co-op is only three years old and was the result of a TechnoServe project in that area. TechnoServe is a nonprofit organization that helps disadvantaged communities develop sustainable businesses. TechnoServe’s goal is to stabilize the business, and then hand it off to the people who are most invested—namely, the producers of ASPROGUATE. In this case they helped these very small producers improve their quality and gain market access.