Indigenous Organic Coffee Production: Agroecology, Ancestral knowledge, and Climate Change

Keywords: Indigenous Organic Coffee Production, Agroecology, Local Knowledge, Climate Change, Ancestral Knowledge
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 69

Abstract

This paper examines how indigenous knowledge dynamically interact with other knowledges in their practices of production and beneficio of organic coffee. By analyzing changes in the practices of production and beneficio utilized by a set of organic coffee producers (members of a small and indigenous producer association in Caldas, Colombia), as well as the practices promoted by their association, and the coffee growers’ organization agricultural extension services during the last 30 years, I illustrate how the indigenous knowledge constantly evolved. Indigenous knowledge and practices of production and value-added post-harvest practices are at the core of their ways of knowing, experiencing, and mitigating climate change. I draw upon ethnographic work, oral histories, and in-depth, semi-structured interviews I conducted with organic coffee producers, association officials, officials from regional and local organizations in charge of supporting coffee producers during the summers of 2017 through 2019, and 2019 Winter Break, a pre-pandemic period.