Coffee producers from all over Costa Rica received trainings on the topics of farm management, tree pruning, and sustainable soil management in order to increase productivity and minimize the impacts of climate change. In addition, they were presented with the NAMA Café and its NAMA Support Project. Over 500 people were trained directly in 9 workshops organized by the Ministry for Agriculture (MAG), the National Coffee Institute (ICAFE) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and carried out by consultants from CIMS. Over 700 producers were subsequently trained on the workshops´ topics by their technicians.
505 workshop participants completed this first training-module, comprised of 9 workshops in all 8 of Costa Rica´s coffee regions. Subsequently, the participating farmers replicated the learned information with other producers who could not participate, thus training over 700 additional coffee farmers. As a next step, they will collect information on fertilization and forest coverage on their farms in order to establish a baseline for the producers´ future work.
The trainings are part of the NAMA Support Project´s 2017 farmers´ strategy, which focuses on an extensive cooperation with coffee producers. Previously, the regional headquarters of the Ministry for Agriculture (MAG) and National Coffee Institute (ICAFE), as well as coffee mills participating in the Costa Rican NAMA Café nominated 1,241 of their coffee farmers to participate in workshops together with technicians and extension workers of both MAG and ICAFE, in order to replicate the information with producers who could not participate.
The second series of workshops will be offered in May and June on the topics of Agroforestry Systems, Nutrition and Fertilization, Weed Management and Integrated Pest and Disease Management. A third is planned for July and August 2017.
Find photos of the workshops held in Orosí, Turrialba, Perez Zeledón, Los Santos Norte and the Valle Central in the foto gallery.
Listen and see impressions of the Los Santos´ workshop and a statement by the NAMA Café on the producers´ workshops on the video section.
