Elder Yobani Mancía, Farms: Las Balanzas y El Encinon

Elmer was born in the hamlet where he still lives today, Las Vegas, at 40 meters from a small river that sometimes comes dangerously close to his home,

when it’s been raining too much, for too long. But he feels happy there, he certainly does.

Elmer started working with his dad when he was still very young. Together, they worked the land, six days a week. A bit of coffee, and some other crops as well, like corn and red beans. The latter mostly for their own consumption, the coffee to sell to whomever came by first, in exchange for cash.

Once Elmer was a grown up, he was able to buy some land for himself and he decided to use most of it for coffee. As his two small plots of land are located in areas that are difficult to access, he will usually walk for half an hour with 80 pounds of coffee on his bag, to reach his house, alongside his mule, that – thankfully – is able to carry a lot more than Elmer himself.

Once he was a member of Cafesmo, he discovered that he could also prepare specialty coffees and get a better price for his coffee, then by selling it to whomever came by his house first. He learned how to wash and then dry the coffees on his patio. The washed micro-lots will typically dry around eight days, part of the day in the shadow, and part of the day under the sun. 

Farm facts

Two plots that total 1,5 hectares between 1,410 and 1,520 meters.

Mostly lempira, also Ih-Cafee90 and some pacas.

Shadow provided by avocado trees and guamo, a local tree.

The land is certified organic, fair trade, and RFA.