During the coffee harvest throughout Latin America, coffee beans are shipped to centralized drying facilities where they are dried using wood or diesel-fired dryers. This drying process contributes significantly to the deforestation of the region.

The Energy Department of the Honduran Ministry of Planning estimates that in Honduras alone, 1,885 acres of forest are clear cut annually for coffee processing, 16% of the industrial consumption of wood in the entire country.

Throughout Central America, an estimated 16,086 acres of forest are cut to supply the firewood used to dry the coffee production each harvest -- equivalent to over 828,000 barrels of diesel fuel per harvest.

The Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI), founded by UML alumni, Raul Raudales, Rich Trubey,  and Dennis Villanueva, is introducing solar coffee drying systems that operate as stand-alone, off-grid systems for use by small coffee farmers. These systems use solar thermal collectors to provide the heat for drying and photovoltaic panels to produce the electricity to power fans and pumps.

The drying system, which uses low temperature drying, preserves the quality of the coffee bean and is an essential tool in the effort to achieve sustainably produced and processed coffee.

In addition to benefiting the environment, these coffee drying systems allow the small grower to dry their own production at the plantation, adding enormous value. Dry beans are much more valuable than beans that must be sold wet to intermediaries for processing. Because the coffee is dried at the plantation site and not mixed at a centralized processing facility, as is usually the case, the coffee can be "individualized" or characterized according to variety, altitude, plantation, date of harvest, etc.

The ability to isolate the harvest is a necessary step in establishing a quality baseline that will make the small grower eligible to sell on the specialty market.

MDI seeks to establish alliances between small coffee farmers and roasters/importers in the US and Canada to provide the farmer with direct access to the international specialty coffee market for their high-quality coffee.

These farmers are investing their own resources in sustainable methods of production and processing that will benefit the environment and achieve quality in the cup for your enjoyment.

This information provided courtesy of:

Mesoamerican Development Institute
669 Stevens Street
Lowell, MA 01851-4519
(978) 937-3460
mesoamerican@juno.com

© copyright 1997 Mesoamerican Development Institute Corp.