México Chiapas Angel Albino Corzo

La Tarralla is a small, remote community in the district of Angel Albino Corzo. This community is one of the highest and most distant in Chiapas. In the steepest part of the mountain lies La Tarralla, Spanish for “The Fishing Net” and named for its shape. To get to La Tarralla, we first fly to the Chiapas airport, then drive 4 hours to Angel Albino Corzo. To reach the producers’ houses we drive for another hour. Unlike the producers of other communities whose farms are next to their houses, the farms at La Tarralla are located 2 hours walk up the mountain. Since the farms are so far from the producers’ homes, the residents usually move into small huts on their farms during harvest. Over the course of several trips per week during harvest, producers carry their coffee on their backs for 2 hours down the mountain, storing it at home. They then ferment in concrete tanks for approximately 24 hours and dry them between 12 and 15 days in cement patios, with length dependent on weather. Producers in the area use the leguminous ice cream bean tree for shade and nitrogen fixing, and fruit trees for shade and organic matter to add to their compost (also made from coffee pulp). One of the main characteristics of La Tarralla is the sense of unity that exists between its residents. There’s a lot of mutual support between neighbors and a lot of pride in belonging to the La Tarralla community. Producers here also have plenty of friendly competition, which drives them to improve their agricultural practices and always search for excellence in productivity and quality. La Tarralla, unlike other Mexican coffee communities, still has a large young population that’s dedicated to coffee. This has meant that many of the producers in the area are under 30 and see coffee as an ideal livelihood with which they can provide a better future for their children and future generations.