Smallholder Cooperatives, Climate Change and a Cup of Coffee

Abstract

* Designated as an Exemplary Master's Project for 2014-15* This paper explores the ways that climate change is impacting coffee production in Guatemala, the strategies that smallholder coffee producers are using to adapt and specifically the role that smallholder coffee cooperatives can play in supporting or hindering that adaptation. Field research for the paper was conducted in Concepcion Huista, Huehuetenango, in collaboration with a coffee association, Coordinator of Organizations for the Development of Concepcion Huista (CODECH). I discuss the ways that climate change is impacting coffee production in Guatemala, and the significant role that CODECH and smallholder coffee cooperatives can play in supporting climate change adaptation and more broadly in supporting farmers’ livelihoods.