Trifinio

Coffee farming in the Trifinio region produces some of the world's finest coffee. The area includes three ('Tri') countries that share common borders - El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. It's one of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) designated biospheres and is home to the Montecristo cloud forest, a mountainous area of incredible bio-diversity, supporting a variety of rare fauna and wildlife. It's also the source of three hugely important rivers, each providing much of the water supply for the three countries. These factors make environmentally sustainable coffee farming extremely important in this area.

The Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership has been instrumental in helping coffee farmers in the Trifinio region and other regions not only increase their productivity, but also become better stewards of the environment so the water, soil and entire ecosystem continue to thrive and flourish under their care.

The Coffee Partnership currently has projects in the Chiquimula region of Guatemala and the Ocotepeque region of Honduras. Accomplishments to date include but are not limited to:

• In 2011, we supported Junior Achievement in a Guatemala pilot project with 180 primary and middle school students in rural coffee growing communities. Junior Achievement is an internationally-renowned program that educates kids about entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work-force readiness through experiential, hands-on programs.
• Supported the establishment of a new farmer organization ACCSO (Asociación Comercializadora Café Sostenible Oriente) in Guatemala. ACCSO combines the efforts of more than 200 small coffee farmers to improve the quality of their coffee, expand productivity, and increase their income.
• Support of ACCSO and its members with an investment in a coffee drying patio. Instead of outsourcing the drying of their coffee beans, they will be able to do it themselves while obtaining a new source of income by charging others for this service.
• An initiative with the Guatemalan government resulted in the donation of school books and video teaching aids to local schools. Thanks to this investment, nearly 500 children were able to attend school an additional three years.