Costa Rica

Agua Buena is a small town in the county of Coto Brus, Costa Rica, located on the border with Panama in the mountain region south of La Amistad National Park. The volcanic soil of this region grows excellent coffee, produced by the 50+ memebers of the CoopePueblos Cooperative. Each farm consists of about 3-4 hectares (8-10 acres) of land where CAN is working with farmers who are focused on improving their livelihood by growing coffee and transitioning into sustainable farming practices.

• Until the late 1950s the region of Agua Buena was largely a tropical rainforest, but is now characterized by agricultural land uses: coffee, vegetable production, and cattle ranching. Some small forest fragments remain, particularly along the creeks that drain from the mountains.
  

• The dependence on coffee has led to a difficult economic situation in recent years as Global coffee prices paid to the producers have dropped (for further reading see Daviron and Ponte (2005), The Coffee Paradox; and Talbot (2004) Grounds for Agreement). The Agua Buena community is alternative economic solutions, such as the direct marketing of coffee, developing an infrastructure for agroecotourism and diversifying crops.