Colombia - Rodrigo Morales, La Palma & El Tucan

Rodrigo Morales is 39 years old and has grown coffee for over 14 years. He lived on the farm, El Naranjal for 2 years before buying the land next to his mother’s farm. The farm sits at an altitude of 1550 meters above sea level and has an area of about 1.2 hectares planted with 7500 trees of Castillo variety. Aside from coffee, Rodrigo and his family also depend on flower cultivation which he sells to floral arrangement shops in Bogota. Don Rodrigo lives on the farm with his wife and three kids. He tells us everyone in the family takes part in the agricultural maintenance, but mainly his wife and eldest son of 18. He is proud to work alongside his family, using methods that have passed on for many generations. Since joining La Palma y El Tucan’s Neighbors & Crops program, Rodrigo has noticed a significant difference in his entire production process. We provide our trained team of pickers during harvest, we transport the coffee cherries to our wet mill, and because of his lack of processing infrastructure, he no longer has to find a way to process and dry his cherries. We hope to continue helping our neighbors, in the same way, that they help us!