Cooperativa Nahuala

Headquartered in the quaint village of Pasac, Coop Nahuala, which means "spirit of the river", is about a one hour drive up the Nahuala River basin on Guatemala's pacific slope. The gravel road to Nahuala leaves Santo Thomas La Union winding its way up to Belen where it narrows to a one lane track that dead end's in a heavily forested coffee growing valley. The cooperative's leaders proudly point out the dense forest that covers the surrounding hills and note that they have reforested most of this area - their coffee plots lie hidden. The altitude is between 1200 and 1500 feet.

The cooperative was formed in 1965 with assistance from the Santo Tomás la Unión parroquia and the agriculture extension agent to help address the extreme poverty found in this remote area. In 1994, cooperative leaders learned of the Max Havelar (now the Fairtrade Labeling Organization) program and began reorganizing to explore exporting through fair trade relationships. The cooperative has grown to 127 member families which are organized into 10 community groups.

The cooperative is particularly interested in alternative income projects and grows bananas and maixán (used to cover tamales) for sale in local markets. They have experimented with raising tilapia as an additional source of protein and have started a honey project. The cooperative also manages a very successful worm composting project with members of the coop eligible to purchase compost fertilizer from the coop at very reasonable prices.

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