The 68 women of the cooperative formed their Board of Directors a few months ago. They drafted their internal rules, signed their articles of incorporation before a notary public, opened a bank account and registered as coffee producers with the Tax Administration Service (SAT)—quite an achievement considering that some did not even have a birth certificate when they first began.
Angelina, Cristina, Magdalena, and Juana live in Santiago El Pinar. This is the first year they sold their harvest directly, not through a middleman. Joining the Sat Kajpel Antsetik Cooperative allowed them to improve production and sell their coffee with a 20% higher profit. They will use the money to buy work equipment and support their homes.
To ensure access to fair trade, the female coffee farmers worked with COFEMO to partner with two other organizations: Nuup, which means “connection” in Mayan, and El Buen Socio, which means The Good Partner in Spanish. Nuup was founded in 2015 as an incubator to accompany agriculture and commerce projects and initiatives. El Buen Socio provides ethical financial services to promote productive projects that produce a social or environmental impact. These two organizations “opened the door to commercialization,” explains COFEMO member Edith Díaz Gutiérrez, who is also the project’s operational coordinator working with the female coffee growers. “Nuup connected us with El Buen Socio. They gave us a loan to ensure that the women received a better price for their coffee than the amount they got from the coyote [middleman], and they hooked us up with those who took it to market,” she explained.
“When we reached this agreement, we did not have the bylaws of what is now the women’s official coffee cooperative, but they trusted that we were going to deliver high-quality coffee, and we can now say that we placed three tons in the market.” The challenge now, says Edith Díaz, is to create trading networks on our own, understand the market and become more independent.
Liliana sees the cooperative as an opportunity for growth for both herself and her community. “As a cooperative, we want to see our products sold in other countries. We want to be recognized in other states and municipalities and be seen for the work we do as women.” Lili walks barefoot on the freshly turned earth, cuts wildflowers and puts them in her long, black hair. She wants to discover, travel, “and do other projects for women. I want to learn many things for the women in my town so we don’t get stripped of our rights, so they can recognize the value of what we do working the land.”
