Pedro Flores farms about two hectares of land in the small colonia of Villa Rosario, a short drive east of Caranavi city in Bolivia's Yungas region. His land spreads across a ridge at 1,500 metres above sea level, and Pedro pays close attention to how his plants respond differently on either side of it – subtle shifts in light, temperature, and airflow creating distinct microclimates that shape how his coffee develops.

Caranavi sits in a transitional zone between the high Andes and the Amazon basin, its name meaning "high place" in Aymara, one of Bolivia's indigenous languages. It's been dubbed the "Coffee Capital of Bolivia" with good reason – lush vegetation, ideal growing conditions, and over 13,000 hectares of plantations across the province. For Pedro, it's simply home.

Sol De La Mañana
Pedro is part of Sol De La Mañana – "The Sun of Tomorrow" – a programme created and run by Agricafe, our Bolivian coffee exporting partners. Designed to support small producers with less than two hectares each, the programme gives farmers like Pedro access to training in coffee agronomy, cupping, and an understanding of the wider coffee markets. It's practical, long-term support with a clear purpose: helping smallholders build sustainable livelihoods from their coffee.

Through Sol De La Mañana, Pedro has learnt to replant his land and manage his coffee plants more methodically – with an eye on both quality and consistency. The programme also draws on the knowledge developed at the Los Rodriguez farms, with varietals, techniques, and processing methods trialled there being passed on to producers in the scheme.

To ensure only the ripest cherries make it into each lot, producers in the Sol De La Mañana programme typically do seven or eight selective harvesting passes across their plants. It's labour intensive and yields smaller amounts each time, but it's the kind of care that shows in the cup.

Once the cherries are picked, they're delivered each evening to Agricafe's Buena Vista mill, where each lot is rigorously separated, measured, and controlled. In Bolivia, even a small portion of a harvest earning below a good speciality price could be devastating for a producer at this scale. That rigour matters enormously – and it's why the relationship between Pedro, Agricafe, and the Sol De La Mañana programme is so important.