CAFISUR - Cooperativa de Caficultores del Sur del Tolima

The Cooperativa de Caficultores del Sur del Tolima (CAFISUR) is a cooperative from the Tolima coffee-growing region located in the central part of the Colombian Andes. The cooperative exports their exceptionally high-quality coffee through EXPOCAFE, one of the country’s main coffee exporters. Through EXPOCAFE, Fair Trade has helped coffee cooperatives like CAFISUR receive stable and fair prices and benefit from their contributions to social development programs, especially when the coffee market suffers worrisome lows. Fair Trade premiums have enabled CAFISUR to establish their own social and productive programs as well. Members of the General Assembly are trying to work with local government organizations and international NGOs to co-finance and implement a new waste-management infrastructure for their coffee production and build basic sanitation systems for workers’ homes. CAFISUR became Fair Trade certified in 2006.