Incorporating Participatory Planning Processes for Engaging with Smallholder Coffee Farmers in Climate Change Resiliency Planning in Latin America

Abstract

Coffee production in Latin America, accounting for 60% of the world’s coffee output, is vital for 25 million smallholder farmers many of whom live in the most biodiverse regions. The susceptibility of coffee crops to weather fluctuations makes them vulnerable to climate change. Participatory approaches are instrumental in identifying context-specific climate-resilient measures. This study focuses on integrating participatory approaches to an organization’s educational model providing capacity building to smallholder farmers. A participatory workshop was designed and implemented with a focus group of coffee farmers in Honduras to identify climate strategies for their coffee production and test participatory approaches. A pre-survey was deployed to gather perceptions on climate impacts and adaptations in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Survey results helped inform the design of the workshop. In general, results show that coffee farmers are experiencing climate changes that impact their well-being and that of their families. Workshop results demonstrate that workshop participants have positive reactions to the participatory format. Findings suggest that the participatory approaches used in the workshop are effective at engaging coffee producers in climate-resilient planning and identifying strategies to adapt.