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Peru has received two blows when it comes to coffee: the wild and aggressive change in climate and

the rust outbreak. Yet, they’re still able to keep up with the rest of the world when it comes to their quality.

Coffee produced in the district of Puno by farmer Raul Mamani (who was partnered with Cecovasa: A Fair

Trade organization for Peruvian farmers) achieved an international award for best quality coffee at the Global

Specialty Coffee Expo in 2017. Prior to winning internationally, Mamani was a national champion in Peru

twice (2013 and 2015) and also was ranked second at the 12th National Quality Coffee Competition (“Peru’s

Coffee Wins”, 2017). With so many high-achieving awards, the quality has proved to be consistent for years –

despite the never-relenting climate challenges.

While two of Peru’s trials to

overcome are related to nature (rust

outbreaks and climate change), they also

battle against competing crops that are

not quite as glorified around the globe.

One of Cecovasa’s main goals is the

stance against the production and

trafficking of drugs in Peru, which has

come to international attention and use

Figure 6. Coffee Farm in Puno (“Luminous Coffee” n.d.) since the nineteenth century

(Gootenberg, 2001). One of their goals is to reorient Peru as a whole toward their award-

winning fruits and coffee (many of which are grown in the Puno region, shown in Figure 6.). Farmers

claim that cocaine production has been greatly affecting the coffee farms when it comes to land that will

produce and the labor needed to work in the fields. “Everything we produce, we sell. Nothing stays with us,”

says Javier Mamani, the general manager of Cecovasa. “The problem in recent years has been diseases such as

rust, and other insects that are affecting crops. And well, coca leaf is also a factor that affects the production of

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