Santa Anita Cooperative
Asociación de Pequeños Caficultores de Santa Anita (APCASA)
Located in the San Marcos Coffee Growing Region
Santa Anita is a rural community in the highlands of Quetzaltenango that consists of approximately forty families who speak five different languages: Spanish and four Mayan indigenous languages. The community was established in 1998 after Guatemala’s violent and destructive 36 year-long Civil War. A group of ex-guerilla fighters, who had previously either sought refuge in the highlands to escape government persecution or were actively fighting in the Civil War, decided to reintegrate into civilian society by purchasing an old coffee farm with a low-interest government loan offered as a part of the reparation process when the Peace Accords were signed in 1996.
After several years of working in coffee cultivation, a group of eight members founded Asociación de Pequeños Caficultores de Santa Anita (Santa Anita Cooperative) in 2010 with the goal of formally marketing their coffee and pursuing capacity building opportunities. In 2012, the roya (coffee leaf rust) wiped out nearly their entire harvest, and even killed a large number of plants that had to be extracted. Santa Anita Cooperative embarked on a multi-year process to recover from this catastrophe, first extracting the affected plants, fortifying their fields, replanting, and keeping the roya at bay. De La Gente began partnering with Santa Anita in 2014 to aid in combating the roya, including fertilizer and fungicide assistance and establishing a nursery for replacement coffee plants.
The cooperative was able to recuperate and harvest coffee by the 2016 harvest, when DLG first purchased and commercialized their coffee, which we have been doing ever since. Our partnership has expanded to include collaborating to implement Immersion Programs in the community. Members of Santa Anita offer home stays for immersion trip participants and facilitate sessions with community members that delve into the complex coffee narrative in Guatemala as well as organize activities in which groups assist with coffee cultivation and processing.
