4C Services and Melitta Europe hold final coffee workshop
Image: 4C Services
The final workshop for the joint project “Improving working and living conditions for coffee smallholders in Colombia” by 4C Services GmbH and Melitta Europa GmbH & Co. KG – Division Coffee was held on 25 April 2023 in Santa Marta, Colombia. The workshop was aimed at showcasing the achievements and impacts of the project and was attended by representatives from all companies involved in the project management, including Dr Norbert Schmitz, managing director of 4C Services, Jan Rischkopf, sustainability manager at Melitta Europe – Coffee Division, Mario Vega Roa, regional commercial director of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) and Edilberto Rafael Álvarez, executive director of the FNC Magdalena Coffee Committee.
Over 50 participants, including project beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders from the Colombian coffee sector came together to participate in the event. The workshop discussed the objectives and outcomes of the project and allowed beneficiaries to share and exchange their experiences. An exchange of best practices and tools was facilitated and the workshop concluded with a presentation on anchoring and disseminating project results. Following the workshop, representatives from 4C and Melitta spent two days visiting project beneficiaries on their farms to get a first-hand impression of the project impacts and gather feedback on its implementation.
The objective of the three-year project was to establish sustainable farm management for Colombian coffee smallholders to contribute to their long-term economic and ecological viability. It also aimed to increase the attractiveness of the coffee-growing sector for young adults and improve market access in Europe, thus increasing farmers’ incomes and improving their livelihoods. A major milestone of the project was the inclusion of coffee produced by project beneficiaries in Melitta’s “Selection of the Year 2023″.
Over the course of the project, nearly 600 on-farm individual and group trainings, as well as online workshops, were conducted by 4C and the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC). “The trainings provided by the project have allowed me to continue with the legacy of my parents, which for me is very important. I have my own coffee brand and the project has taught me how to further promote the products of my coffee farm,” said Yesenia Goméz Almanza, a young coffee farmer in Magdalena.
Income diversification was an important topic of the project and was addressed through trainings dedicated to young adults. These trainings focused on growing diversified crops, production of coffee-related products like honey as well as promoting touristic offers. Furthermore, the beneficiaries received support in form of material goods which together with the technical knowledge acquired in the trainings equipped them to implement effective management systems and adopt more sustainable practices. As a result 504 small coffee farmers achieved the 4C certification during the project.
Various media resources such as photos, videos, and articles are available for press use on the 4C Services website. These resources showcase the impact of the project and the stories of the small coffee farmers who have benefited from it and are available for use by press and media in relation to reports on this project in Colombia.
