i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

The growers share a collective responsibility in upholding organic and quality
standards as well as community credits 53 . Financing production is intrinsically connected
to the stability of markets based on high-quality crops and organic certification. Small
farmer groups must work together to obtain and maintain organic certification, implement
conservation methods to protect habitat, soil, and water sources, and manage pre-harvest
financing for the coming harvest. The section is a review of how San Juaneño farmers
adapt these new technologies and practices to local standards.
The Coffee Production Cycle: A Perennial Process
The coffee harvest lasts about three to four months in Nicaragua, typically from early
December through March. The farms of San Juan del Rio Coco range from 800 to more
than 1,200 meters above sea level. The remote and inaccessible terrains of the Segovias
are ideal for quality coffee production. Arabica varieties thrive in the damp cloud forests
of highland Nicaragua. The volcanic soils and cool climate favor specialty varieties such
as Caturra, Catuaí, Borbón, and Maragojipe. Arabica grows best in intermittent shade,
so shade-grown coffee programs combine well with reforestation and soil conservation
efforts.
Coffee plants at lower altitudes with warmer climates ripen earlier than those in
higher altitude, colder farms. The Carazo Plateau, near the Pacific coast, is about 300
meters above sea level and is ideal for Robusta coffee varieties that prefer warmer climes
and full sun exposure. Robusta is more industrialized than Arabica. It is typically planted
53 Community Credit, or Crédito comunitario or solidario (solidarity) is a shared form of
pre-harvest finance that is distributed to an group of farmers. These farmers cooperate to
repay the credit as a group, but should they not, they have to impose penalties or controls
internally. This approach is design after the Grameen Bank’s model for group
microlending.
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