Nicaragua RFA Santa Rita SHG EP

Coffee Background

Nicaragua RFA Santa Rita SHG EP is sourced from the Santa Rita Estate in the department of Jinotega, Nicaragua.  In 1998, two entrepreneurial women, Dania Baltodano and Desiree Pereira who are fourth generation coffee farmers, renovated the abandoned property turning it into a sustainable coffee estate consisting of 152 hectares of coffee plants, 54 hectares of preserved forest, and wet mill facility.  At Santa Rita, crop disease and yield are successfully managed with five applications of fertilizer per growing season.  Coffee production is also a means to promote the preservation of water sources and community access to clean potable water.  Several community programs have been established to reforest watersheds and create biosphere corridors to replenish aquifers.