El Marchito, Tolima, Colombia

About

A member of the ASOCANAFI association, Justiniano Paya has isolated a micro-lot of the Colombia variety. After harvesting, the coffee cherries are fermented for around 120 hours in anaerobic conditions in plastic bags. The cherries are then pulped and washed. The coffee
then ferments in parchment, in the same environment, for between 24 and 60 hours. The parchment then dries for between 72 and 240 hours, in the shade of the farm’s marquesinas.
As far as drying times are concerned, as is often the case, it all depends on the weather. Depending on the heat, exposure to the sun and humidity, the fermentation and drying periods can be shorter or longer.

El Marchito

Finca El Marchito covers an area of 6 hectares. Located in the village of Gaitania, in the Planadas region of Tolima, the farm is situated at an altitude of between 1650 and 2100 m. Of the 6 hectares, 4 are dedicated to coffee and another 2 are reserved for the production of beans. At El Marchito, Justiniano Paya produces microlots of the Geisha, Prink Bourbon, Caturra, Colombia and Castillo varieties, in accordance with the requirements of organic farming

The Coop

Asocanafi was founded in August 2011 with 36 members, indigenous men and women from the community of La Palmera village in the Páez de Gaitania indigenous reserve, with a single objective: to maintain the unity and volunteerism of the community and to revive the famous “community minga” applied to the coffee production system. The idea was born by young people with an entrepreneurial vision who had acquired their knowledge in the city of Ibagué at the University of the Unified National Corporation of Colombia (CUN), and who decided to return and put their knowledge into practice in the field. 

Today, Asocanafi is a cooperative of indigenous coffee growers, NASA WE’SX, with more than 170 producer families in the Planadas and Gaitania regions. Each family owns between 2 and 4 hectares. These are protected areas for these indigenous peoples, with more than 6,000 trees per hectare. They are the guardians of one of the largest nature reserves in Colombia. These lands and their belief in protecting Mother Earth make them the best allies for producing one of Colombia’s most respectful coffees using organic farming practices. They have joined a number of coffee producer organisations to promote their coffee, provide an income for their families and strengthen their community.

The varieties produced are Castillo, Colombia, Caturra, San Barnardo and Typica. The main harvest (70%) takes place from May to July and the second harvest from October to January. Asocanafi produces around 4,000 70kg bags per year.

The Gaitana area 

Gaitania has its own history, the first name of this village was “Colonia Penal y Agrícola del Sur de Atá or in english Penal and Agricultural Colony of South Ata. In 1920 it was decreed as a jail for the inmates belonging to the Liberal Political Party. At the end of the 40’s decade the Goverment closed the jails with political features and it was the born of the region as Gaitania in honor to the Liberal leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, murded in Bogota for those days.

One of their historical habitants has been the Nasa We’sx indigenous community which represents the 30% of the population of the village. They used to move between Cauca and South Tolima in the XVIII century, but the social complexity in the region made them to stop there definitively as the only option to survive as community. Later, in 1991, the Colombian State gave to the indigenous the right to live there with land and social independency, this is the origin of Nasa We’sx village as protected land of this indigenous community and caretakers of one of the biggest natural reserve in Colombia (Snowy Volcano of Huila). This land and their beliefs, of caring of the Mother Earth, make them the best allied to produce one of the most delicious coffees with organic principles in Colombia. They have associated, in several organizations of coffee producers, to promote the coffee culture, ensure the incomes of the families and strenght them as indigenous community. 

The Nasa We’sx indigenous will be kept in the history of Colombia thanks to be the first community to sign a Peace Agreement with the FARC held in 1996. In 2016, 20 years later, was signed the Peace Agreement between the Colombian govenment and the FARC guerilla.