Colombia
Cundinamarca
PROSERVICOL and Francisco Tamayo
Various Smallholders
Castillo, Tabi, Colombia, Caturra
Washed
April–June, October–December
Chocolate, Caramel, Lemon, Orange
1675 meters
N/A
70 kg with liner
SOLD OUT
Sumapaz is a community lot from smallholders in the Sumapaz and Eastern provinces of the department of Cundinamarca. Sumapaz province is named for the Paramo de Sumapaz, the largest moor—high, hilly temperate grassland biome—in the world and a protected Colombian National Reserve since 1977. The Sumapaz moorland is the source of much of urban Bogota’s fresh water supply and feeds the Magdalena and Orinoco Rivers. Mining projects have threatened the forest and highland ecosystems, but the people of neighboring towns ensured that the land become a protected national treasure and continue to protect this precious natural resource.
More than 30,000 coffee farming families live in Sumapaz, where the highly productive soil, climatic conditions of low nighttime temperatures with sunny days, and regular misty cloud cover make coffee production thrive.
Smallholder farmers in the Ubaque, Fomeque, and Choachí towns of the Eastern Province own their land and are deeply devoted to the careful labor necessary to produce quality.
PROSERVICOL, Productores y Servicios Lideres de Colombia, formed in 2012 to help further the viability of coffee production in Cundinamarca. Beginning with the farms surrounding Francisco Tamayo’s Finca La Primavera in Silvania, Proservicol assures the quality of coffee by assisting in picking, drying, and traceability so that families can remain on their farms and continue to act as stewards of the land.
Coffee has been integral to the economic development of the Cundiamarca department for more than a century. The area’s coffee is not just a crop; it is part of the social and cultural fabric of the region.
Cundiamarca’s coffee grows on the western slopes of the Eastern Andes range of Colombia. Here, coffee cultivations are notable for their biodiversity, integration into local ecosystems, and the commitment of the department’s coffee producers; these ingredients have contributed to the prevalence of shade coffee in Cundinamarca. Below a layer of native Andean flora, shade-grown coffee demonstrates the regional philosophy of conservation and environmental sustainability.
Cundianmarca’s coffee farms are planted across more than 43,000 hectares, 70% of which are sown beneath other tree species. The department surrounds the country’s capital city of Bogota, with its more than 10 million inhabitants in the city and sprawling metro area. Even though Cundinamarca’s farms are in such proximity to the country’s urban hub, they offer the contrast of aggressively preserving Colombia’s naturally diverse ecosystems.
