Sol de Mañana, Bolivia

This selection of small farmers is part of Agricafé’s Sol de Mañana program in Bolivia. The program is designed to function as a small school and takes 7 years to graduate. Producers are guided through every step of coffee farming, starting with the nursery, planting, harvesting, pest prevention, pruning, and financial management. The idea is that they learn better coffee practices and can significantly improve their lifestyle, improving coffee farming in the country and motivating others to return to coffee farming. Currently the producers are starting year 6, learning about pruning, which is an important and very significant part of coffee farming, the producers never applied it in traditional coffee farming.

The journey of Finca Los Rodriguez began 35 years ago when founder and former banker Pedro Rodriguez pursued his passion for coffee. Initially starting as a trading company, Pedro grew into one of the pioneers of specialty coffee in Bolivia. Pedro owns and operates an export company called Agricafe with his daughter Daniela and son Pedro Pablo. To grow in volumes, in 2012 Agricafe acquired land in Caranavi, Los Yungas with their dream of starting their own farm, Finca La Linda. They now own a total of 12 farms, 8 in Caranavi and 4 in Samaipata.

The Los Rodríguez farms are located in the 'Los Yungas' region around Caranavi, La Paz Department, and Samaipata, Santa Cruz Department. Los Yungas is the main traditional coffee growing region in Bolivia, while Samaipata is typically known for its wine production. Until the late 19th century, land in Bolivia was owned by wealthy families and hardly used for agriculture, but after a government reform to increase production in Bolivia and develop new regions, the land was divided up and given to local producers, each being allocated around 8-10 ha. However, it was not until about 60 years ago that Bolivia began commercial coffee production. At that time, coffee farms were run in a very traditional way, meaning that producers left the farms to nature and only came out during the harvest season to pick the cherries.

Bolivia's harvest takes place between June and November, while the tropical climate and high altitude of the Andes mountain range provide an excellent terroir for the Arabica grown. These optimal conditions, combined with a correct process, selective harvesting, delicate and controlled drying and balanced harvesting times, have allowed Bolivia to stand out in the international market in recent years.