The Association of Indigenous Producers Asoarhuaco is a group of producers who are dedicated to cultivating their farms in culturally traditional ways that emphasize a balance with, and deep respect for, nature.
The Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa and Kankuamo — four aboriginal peoples — have peacefully lived together in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region for thousands of years, and their spiritual philosophy guides their farming practices. The Arhuaco believe that everything has its place in nature, and that to occupy a space, permission must be requested and “payment” made through rituals and practices that keep everything aligned.
“We, the Arhuacos, live in the Heart of the World, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which was given to us to protect and thus maintain a balance with nature, allowing all beings that inhabit the planet to live in harmony,” the group states on its web site.
The commercialization of indigenous products was long controlled by western merchants, who sought to purchase at unjustly low prices. This led authorities in the departments of Magdalena and La Guajira to form an organization that knows the production of coffee and other products and could represent and market them fairly nationally and internationally. This is how the Association of Producers of the Arhuaco People of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (ASOARHUACO) was created.
Since its creation, the group has been able to make alliances with coffee buyers, host tours of its villages, form relationships with buyers who value the quality of its coffees and ensure fair prices for coffee producers.
Approximately 1,000 producers, who live in wood-and-thatch homes, cultivate coffee and cocoa as a means of economic subsistence.
Coffee is produced under shade trees, using fertilization and pest-control-management practices that are certified Organic and are in keeping with the spiritual beliefs of the families.
Cupping: Tropical, brown sugar, grapefruit, juicy; aromatic and balanced. Citric, juicy acidity, delicate body.
The photo at far left is from the ASOARHUACO Instagram account and shows delegates from each of the communities that make up the association.
