Outside Looking In

La Finca Distribution was invited by ECOM Nicaragua and Swiss Cooperation to speak, during a field trip with 23 small coffee producers in Dipilto, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. It was an opportunity to share insight on our buying ethics and explain about the importance of protecting water sources, intercropping with shade bearing trees and preserving biodiversity. This was the first time many producers heard about the perspective of Nicaraguan coffee from an outsider and it gave some a new understanding about the impact of agroforestry and waste water management.

ECOM demonstrated how easy and cheap it is to build a "honey water"(waste water from depulping and washing coffee) filtration system to clean your water, before releasing it back into the water source. Built out of a water tank, some pvc piping and catch basins filled with layers of sedimentary rock and activated charcoal; these systems kill off the harmful, impotable bacteria that pollutes most farming communities' water sources.

Excerpt from: Roaster's Edition Vol. 1, page 3
Written by: Ryan Sull, La Finca Distribution Corp.