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

campesinos y del ecosistema. No hay exito si los productores en la cooperative están
sufriendo. Si uno sufre, todos sufren (we need all to progress in order to improve the
quality of life of the campesinos [and protect] the ecosystem. There is no success if
farmers in the cooperative are suffering. If one suffers, we all suffer).”
The local nuance for addressing adversity illustrates a community of farmers’
resilience and ability to function efficiently under new models of organization and
production. The process once the coffee leaves the farmer’s possession illuminates what a
farmer stands to gain by selling to a specialty (i.e., organic or Fair Trade) market and
what may not enter into that sale. The following case studies show how cooperatives in
and around San Juan have addressed challenges relating to their organic and Fair Trade
certification, involvement in social investment programs, and land tenure. The first
describes the difficulties in implementing one of the main features of Fair Trade
certification—the social investment funds that are supposed to be used to reinvest export
revenues in community well-being. The second recounts a battle to keep collectively
owned plantation land in the hands of the community. These case studies illustrate how
fragile campesino organizations still are and how important outside involvement in their
success can be.
Off-Farm Processing and Exportation
The situation is complicated when farmers have to decide whether to market their coffee
through the co-op or the coyote. The coyote pays that day’s New York Board of Trade
(NYBT) rate per carga. The cooperative fixes a price for café oro exportable based on
the futures market for specialty sale to organic and Fair Trade coffee consumers.
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