Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by / Markus Böhnisch
00:16 Harold Andrade / Coffee farmer
00:56 Eugenia Balanta / Cafexcoop
02:04 Guillermo Eduardo Carvajal / CEO Riopaila
02:31 Harold Londoño / Economist

Script:

00:00
Harold Andrade is one of thousands of coffee farmers in Colombia. He is passionate about his work, but he’s tired of seeing prices set by foreign presidents or global markets.

00:16
+++ SOT Harold Andrade / Coffee Farmer +++
"For us producers, ideally, we would find direct buyers for our processed products — not just raw beans."

00:24
The reason? He earns more because he adds value to his beans.

In Valle del Cauca, he sells about ten percent of his coffee directly, and together with others he wants to expand that — even to visiting paragliders from around the world.

But this isn’t a solution for most Colombian coffee farmers trying to become less dependent on the US market. They’re still looking for answers.

00:55
+++ SOT Eugenia Balanta / Cafexcoop +++
"We are focusing on Asia as an emerging market, a market where people don’t traditionally drink much coffee. But we want to get them interested."

01:09
But that will take time. And they can’t do without the US anyway. After all, a quarter of the region’s exports go to North America.

In Valle del Cauca, agribusiness dominates. Nothing shapes the landscape as much as sugarcane. The company Rio Paila is the region’s largest producer, processing around 17,000 tons daily. What looks like old heavy industry at first glance is actually quite modern. Waste products are used to generate electricity for production and thousands of households, as well as ethanol for fuel.

Rio Paila, too, looked nervously toward the US last year.

02:02
+++ SOT Guillermo Eduardo Carvajal / CEO Riopaila +++
"Right now the US is our main market, but the EU is also important, with about a 15% share."

02:12
Riopaila exports sugar worldwide, with the US making up 7% of its business. The company expects that northern market to hold — despite Trump. But when producers look for new markets, they tend to look closer to home, toward an old partner: Venezuela.

02:31
+++ SOT Harold Londoño / Economist +++
"Until 2008, Venezuela was the most important trading partner for Valle del Cauca. Twenty‑five percent of exports went there."

02:40
In Valle del Cauca, companies know the risk of relying on one country, so they're looking for new markets — for sugar and their top export: coffee.

END