Empowering Coffee Farmers in Aponte, Colombia

In the heart of the Aponte Indigenous Reservation in Colombia, more than 200 smallholder farmers cultivate coffee, each harvesting and drying coffee from their own small farms. Think Coffee has been working within the Aponte community for 10 years, building relationships with the people who grow the coffee we serve.

Our work in Aponte began with a community project following a devastating fault line shift that damaged homes throughout the reservation in 2016. Working with the community, we provided critical supplies that helped rebuild 92 homes. That project gave us the opportunity to develop deeper relationships with local farmers and better understand both their work and the challenges they face.

One of those farmers was Israel Jamioy, who brought together a small group of producers and helped us establish a more direct connection to the farmers behind our coffee. Today, our purchasing relationship is with Israel and about five members of his family, each of whom farms their own small plot in El Páramo. They harvest and dry their own coffee before selling it in parchment (pergamino) to José Gomez at PROCAAL, our exporting partner, who processes the coffee and exports it directly to Think Coffee.

By working directly with Israel and his family, we have a close, traceable relationship that allows us to verify that the amount each farmer receives from our purchases represents a livable wage. It’s a partnership that grew from years of working within Aponte and reflects what we believe responsible coffee sourcing should look like: long-term relationships, transparency, and meaningful value for the people who grow our coffee.