As we close out 2024, we at Food 4 Farmers are reflecting on a year filled with challenges, triumphs, and the collective determination of coffee-farming families across Latin America. Despite the hurdles—from prolonged droughts to volatile coffee prices—our partners and communities have shown incredible resilience, embracing innovative solutions to build sustainable livelihoods and improve food security. Here’s a look back at what we’ve accomplished together this year.
Building Resilient Communities
In Guatemala, we hosted our first community food exchange with the ACODIHUE coffee co-op, where 34 families sold organic produce grown alongside their coffee. The event was a resounding success, with fresh fruits and vegetables selling out quickly. Initiatives like this not only provide families with critical income but also strengthen food systems by improving access to fresh, nutritious food.
Members of the Rancho Viejo community sell their homegrown produce at our first community food exchange.
Our collaboration with the SOPPEXCCA cooperative in Nicaragua has continued supporting a women-run organic farmers’ market, where 32 women have generated over $18,000 – almost twice as much as the previous year! These markets are more than just income generators; they’re powerful tools for empowering women, addressing food insecurity, and fostering healthier communities.
In Mexico, despite facing security challenges, beekeepers at CESMACH achieved a successful honey harvest of nearly 14 metric tons. Thirteen producers became certified organic, and the community secured a $25,000 contract, bolstering their economic stability.
Graduates of our Community Promoter Certificate Program.
Growing Local Leadership
This year, we launched the Community Promoter Certificate Program, training young leaders to sustain and expand local food security initiatives. These young people gained technical skills in agroecology, leadership, and program management, preparing them to lead change in their communities. These promoters are already driving significant impact, helping families manage their home gardens and agroforestry systems that feed families and improve the environment.
Expanding Sustainable Farming Practices
Our agroforestry work, supported by the Arbor Day Foundation, continued to flourish. Over 10,000 fruit and hardwood trees were planted across Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua, enhancing biodiversity, improving soil health, and creating reliable food sources for farming families. Meanwhile, innovative techniques like spiral gardening—a space-saving, resource-efficient method—are enabling families to maximize small plots of land and build resilience against climate challenges.
Farmers tending to their spiral garden.
From our lecture at Detroit Coffee Fest in partnership with Artisan Coffee Imports.
Advancing Collaboration
Collaboration has always been at the heart of everything we do. This year, our partnerships with organizations like Tenamaste, COMEPCAFE, and Manos Campesinas expanded our reach and impact, bringing agroecological knowledge, training, and resources to hundreds of families. At the same time, we deepened connections with the coffee community through events like the Specialty Coffee Expo, San Francisco Coffee Festival, Throwdown For Farmers Chicago, and Detroit Coffee Week, uniting coffee professionals and supporters around the shared goal of ending hunger in coffee-farming communities.
Looking Ahead
As we look to 2025, Food 4 Farmers will build on the lessons and successes of this year, focusing on strategies that strengthen food sovereignty, improve incomes, and create lasting resilience.
In Mexico, our work with CESMACH will emphasize home food production as a critical strategy for resilience during times of social conflict like the ongoing drug-related violence that is devastating the region. Families who produce their own food are better equipped to face challenges, and these efforts will start with the diversification projects we’ve developed over the past several years.
For beekeepers, new initiatives will include improving honey production through genetic enhancement, increasing youth participation, and reviving the production of melipona honey—an incredibly nutritional resource that can be used as medicine.
We’re also prioritizing capacity building in 2025. Families will gain skills in food preparation using native products, herbal medicine, and healthy food consumption. Young entrepreneurs will be at the forefront, with plans to strengthen at least two identified youth groups, providing support and resources to foster their growth and leadership.
Finally, we’re excited to announce a new collaboration with Fondo Para La Paz in Chiapas, Mexico. This initiative will focus on working with coffee-farming families in the Los Altos region, a community that is 99% Indigenous. Together, we will begin by implementing agroforestry practices with 100 families, supporting sustainable livelihoods and environmental resilience.
Stay tuned for our January blog, where we’ll share more detailed stats and stories from this year’s programs. Until then, we wish you a joyful holiday season filled with hope, gratitude, and connection.
