Project assistance completion report : small farmer coffee improvement project, 522-0176

The project was expected to reach 10,400 small coffee producers and have considerable spread effect to others. Activities included credit, paratechnical extension agents, demonstration lots, rehabilitation of damaged lots, publications, characterization of soils in selected regions, and crop diversification. The paratechnicians played a critical role in helping extension agents decide farmer eligibility for the project. These agents had extensive local knowledge as the majority were coffee farmers who had participated in the project. Another method of technology transfer was an experimental model based on a group approach rather than traditional individual farm visitation. There was also a notable amount of technology transfer to non-participating farmers. Fifty-eight percent of those asked had observed their neighbors using some of the practices they had implemented on their own farms. The project opened the door to credit for small farmers, 62% of whom had no credit experience before. Many of these will be eligible for credit in the future. Although smaller than expected, credit repayments were sufficient to enable continued lending after the PACD. On-farm coffee processing facilities were upgraded with the help of credit, and regular bank loans to cover annual coffee maintenance costs were extended to almost half the beneficiaries. With few exceptions, the targeted outputs were met or exceeded. The project helped 12,519 farmers and provided formal training to 30,506; both numbers exceeded the target of 10,400. The target of 13,000 manzana of land to be improved with technology was exceeded by 3,641. The proposed credit system was in place by the target date and will be viable for twenty years. Targets amounts for new research plots, soil tests, trained extension agents, and postharvest quality control measures all were superseded. However, certain output goals were not accomplished. Due to the dramatic yield increases and the resulting income it was difficult for the project to convince farmers to try crops other than coffee. Only 200 manzana of coffee were converted (to cacao), while the target was 610. Both the Mission and IHCAFE consider the project successful. In fact, IHCAFE has been considered as a case study in the area of supervised agricultural credit. Lessons learned from the project are as follows: (1) profitable technology must accompany credit; (2) intra- and extra-institutional communication and coordination are always necessary; (3) private financial institutions will lend to smaller producers when returns are adequate and risks manageable; (4) no apparently successful credit project can afford to ignore underlying reasons for loan delinquency; (5) the poorest farmers are the most difficult to reach successfully; and (6) a felt need, such as the presence of coffee rust, can provide strong incentive for project participation.