Strengthening the Coffee Value Chain

In partnership with McDonald’s, TechnoServe implemented a four-year initiative to sustainably improve coffee farmers’ income and yields using climate-resilient practices.

From 2012 to 2017, the project worked to improve farmers’ adoption of sustainable and good agronomic practices in the Sololá, Chimaltenago, and Socatepéquez regions of Guatemala. Through the training, more than 15,000 participating farmers – mostly from indigenous highland communities, and more than 50 percent of whom were women – increased their use of best practices by 82 percent, leading to an average 45 and 35 percent increase in coffee yields and incomes, respectively. In total, these improvements have generated $21.5 million in increased income and wages. To increase the lasting impact of these best practices, TechnoServe also trained local community trainers, who have now become local leaders with the knowledge and technical skills to continue to support coffee farmers in these communities.