Most varieties of coffee are naturally intolerant of direct sunlight, and prefer a canopy of shade. Shade trees not only protect the coffee from the sun, they also mulch the soil with their fallen leaves which helps retain soil moisture and nutrients.
Planting nitrogen-fixing shade trees and adding organic matter to the soil helps in creating a sustainable method of farming that will use little or no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.
Currently we are using these methods alongside the Karen to encourage and develop more coffee growing. There is already a lot of coffee growing going on in the area but most farmers either have no market or no knowledge of how to properly care for their coffee. We want to enable them to properly manage, process and sell their coffee.
We are not in the business in trying to re-create the wheel. We resource and network with already existing businesses and organizations to insure the best possible out come for the coffee and the farmer.