ASOUNIR

United Associations of Agro-Environmental

Producers of Northern Tolima

Avenida Los Fundadores,

Carrera 6 Esquina
Lbano, Tolima, Colombia

Phone: (+57) 311-222-4101

cafilibano@gmail.com

70
Years

1947 - 2017
www.coopscanada.coop
www.cdfcanada.coop 70
Years
@CDFCanada @CCAIntl
www.impact.coop
1947 - 2017
 Our Story
Up the mountain trail, along a narrow rocky path, about 20 minutes
from the town of Lbano, Tolima, lies Finca El Eden, a farm owned
by Doa Mara Anabeiba Fquene de Len, an ASOUNIR member associations under the IMPACT project, Improving the
who proudly points out the Colombia and Castilla coffee varieties
growing on her plantation.
Doa Mara Anabeiba is a widow who inherited her family estate
from her husband. She says that when she first took charge of the
farm she had no idea how to manage it. She was familiar only with
the drying process, having devoted her time and energy to it over
the years, in what seemed almost like a ritual, performed alone, at
home. She is now in charge of the entire farm, which employs a total
of 80 workers and last year produced 480,000 kilos of coffee (689
cargas).
Marta Redondo Rodrguez, another ASOUNIR member who lives
in the village of Zelanda, joins our conversation. She proudly tells
us the story of how several associations in the region came together
to form what is now ASOUNIR. Before, everybody worked alone.
Then we realized we needed to band together to create production
projects, which is the idea behind ASOUNIR. Were now training to
form a business.
ASOUNIR (United Associations of Agro-Environmental
Producers of Northern Tolima) was founded in 2015 as a
second-tier association, merging the CAFILIBANO cooperative
and the ASOMUPAS, LA AMISTAD, and AMMUCIL
Economic Performance of Agricultural Co-operatives in
Colombia sponsored by the Canadian Co-operative Association
(CCA) and its operator in Colombia, Incubadora Gestando.
The organizations 963 members (and their families) inhabit the
municipalities of Lbano, Las Pavas, and Villahermosa, where they
grow environmentally sustainable coffee in compliance with good
agricultural practices. The social, environmental, cultural, and
economic changes generated by the Association have improved
the quality of life of its members, who suffered for over a decade
from the global coffee crisis and Colombias armed conflict.
Doa Marias farm, like all ASOUNIR farms, is located more
than 1,400 meters above sea level, on the volcanic soil around
the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, in an exceptionally biodiverse
area. Here, producers laboring in environmentally sustainable
conditions hand-pick the coffee bean by bean, process and dry it
to ensure a quality coffee characterized by its softness.