Guatemala - Guaya'b Fair Trade

Guaya'b's farmers live and work in Jacaltenango, a municipality tucked into the foothills of the Cordillera de los Cuchumatanes in the department of Huehuetenango. This is the high, dry northwest corner of Guatemala, close to the Mexican border and far from the country's main coffee arteries. The mountains here are steep and remote, and the highland winds that sweep down off the Cuchumatanes give the region a unique growing climate. 

The cooperative’s name,"Guaya'b", is a Maya-Poptí word meaning "mutual support." Members joined by referral and organized themselves into small cells, each managing its own coffee and finances. Buying this lot as a certified Fair Trade coffee means a guaranteed minimum price for the producers and a community premium flowing back to Jacaltenango, which supports projects such as medical insurance, low-interest micro-loans, and diversified income from honey, peanuts, and peppers grown alongside the coffee. That stability has helped keep families rooted on their land rather than migrating away in search of work.

Coffee grows under native shade trees across the members' plots, part of the same careful, low-impact farming that earns the cooperative organic and bird-friendly certifications, and keeps the ecosystem of these mountains diverse and healthy.