agriculture

Ngöbe Buglé grow organic coffee business

A people recognized mainly by their colorful women's dresses and beaded necklaces are now turning heads with their organic coffee.

Foreign interest in Ngöbe Buglé coffee is growing. A Danish businessman plans to take it to the international marketplace.

LA PRENSA

Fruitful: Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds , or beans, are then roasted. Coffee was first consumed in the 9th century in the highlands of Ethiopia.1007674

The Ngöbe Buglé people of Panama, most of whom live in remote areas in the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí and Veraguas, are known mainly for their nagua, a woman's gown decorated with colorful geometric shapes, and their chaquiras, a beaded necklace designed with geometric patterns and bold colors. But these days the country's indigenous people are getting attention for something else: organic coffee.

Grown in soil where pesticides and other chemicals have never been used, not on unsustainable plantations, and cultivated by indigenous people, not corporate growers, good quality Ngöbe Buglé coffee is finding its way to markets where people are willing to pay a premium for it because it tastes good and is helping to lift a marginalized people out of poverty and obscurity.

No one knows just how much land the Ngöbe Buglé are using to cultivate coffee, "since each grower decides how much terrain to dedicate to production," said Rosario Aguilar, coordinator of the Proyecto de Productividad Rural (Prorural) del Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (Mida).

He also noted that the some 350 growers in the Comarca Ngöbe Buglé, the semi-autonomous province where most Ngöbe Buglé live, are being trained in caring for their coffee bushes, harvesting and depulping the berries that contain the plant's seeds, or beans, and drying them. Forty percent of the growers are women.

One small group of farmers from the community of Hato Chami has begun specializing in removing the pulp from around the beans, drying them, and even doing coffee tastings, a critical test that requires a sensitive and experienced palate.

"The people have quality organic coffee because they come from a poor area and don't use fertilizers, which has come around to benefit them," said Aguilar.

The cost of a pound of organic coffee "depends on negotiations between the producers and buyers," said Carlos Aguilera, president of the Asociación de Cafés Especiales de Panamá. In the local market, this kind of coffee can sell for over $2 a pound but up to $5 a pound at auction, Aguilera said.

In the Comarca, coffee costs $1.10 for a one-pound bag, but agriculture authorities are advising sellers to get an official health certification for their product, which is critical for the export market, Aguilar reported. "It's incredible to see how the [Ngöbe Buglé], in such a short time, are already handling the same terms and concepts used by the experts," said the official.

Growers have recently formed an alliance with some national and international coffee companies and the Mida to produce coffee for export. Danish businessman Klaus Thomsen recently came to Panama to test the quality of the Ngöbe Buglé coffee and, although he reached no formal agreement with the growers, said he plans to take the product to the international market. That will require an investment in processing equipment, but one expected to provide a handsome return.