El Descanso Village and the Soul of Huila
In the world of coffee, the Colombia’s Huila department is a rising star. This vast region tends to yield bright coffees with citrusy highlights, caramel sweetness and rich chocolaty flavors. With its range of micro climates Huila can produce fresh coffee year-round.
Garzón municipality, located in central Huila, is known as, “El Alma del Huila” or, “the Soul of Huila”. And, some of the finest coffees from Garzón are produced, on the mountainous rural side in El Descanso village.
El Descanso village has an average altitude of 1,750 masl. The town has a handful of small family farms using just 49 hectares for coffee production. In total, the production capacity of El Descanso is a mere 1,000 bags of green coffee.
El Descanso village produces exquisite coffees, but it is also full of amazing people with unique life stories. Edgar Campos is one of the patriarchs of the community. His rough and heavy hands bear the marks of more than 70 years of cultivating the land.
Don Edgar was born in Guadalupe, a small community located in southern Huila. When he and his family arrived to El Descanso many decades ago the town was mainly dedicated to livestock; coffee farming was a rarity. Nevertheless Don Edgar’s father took up work as a coffee picker.
Don Edgar’s father decided to start experimenting with some Typica seeds in his own small farm. Fortunately, Huila’s cool climate was ideal for coffee production, but it was a rocky start.
When Don Edgar’s family began farming coffee no one was teaching producers best practices for coffee farming. The standard practice was to germinate coffee seeds directly in the soil.
Nowadays, it’s well known that a healthy and vigorous coffee farm begins with a perfectly managed nursery. Time and technical improvements led to significant growth in productivity. Today Don Edgar’s farm is vibrant and robust. It produces a healthy mix of Caturra, Castillo and Colombia varieties.
Don Edgar was also a pioneer in implementing drying systems throughout his community. Years ago he and his community in El Descanso sold wet parchment, but he recognized that he could make more money by developing his own drying system — he was right. The drying system on Don Edgar’s farm generated job opportunities in his community and improved the cup profile of his coffee.
With decades of experience producing coffee, Don Edgar has observed many changes. He has noticed that the weather has changed. The land on which he walked as a child was not optimal for coffee production, but climate change in the region boosted the growth rate in his plants. Now, one of his main concerns is that global warming will eventually affect these ‘ideal conditions’ — a feeling shared by many producers whose farms are at lower altitudes.
Carcafe Ltd, Genuine Origin’s sister company in Colombia, has worked with coffee farmers throughout Huila - including Edgar Campos and the other family farms in El Descanso Village - for years. Carcafe has provided commercial and technical assistance through its own farm sustainability programs. Don Edgar has seen strong improvements in production and earnings thanks to these programs.
Experience the work of Edgar Campos and the farmers of El Descanso in Genuine Origin’s El Descanso Village green coffee. Enjoy a bright cup with notes of citrus, grilled peaches and flavors of caramel and chocolate.
To learn more about us, visit Genuine Origin online or say hello on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
