Noticiero 90 Minutos

NARINO, COLOMBIA (Dow Jones)–The department of Narino in south west Colombia hopes to increase coffee production by 10,000 hectares over the next four years, as part of a drug substitution program organized by the local government. Narino is Colombia’s second biggest coca-growing department, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, and is also an important producer of poppy, from which heroin is made.

Narino currently grows 27,300 hectares of coffee, according to Fedecafe, and 13,875 hectares of coca, according to UNODC, which monitors illegal crops by satellite. Narino is also the second largest grower of poppy (475 hectares).

Narino’s coffee is grown at very high altitudes of between 1,500m and 2,200m in volcanic soil, and is characterized by high levels of acidity. About 90% of the total is sold as “special” coffee, which sells at a premium over the national price. Starbucks buys around 30% of the harvest, which they sell as their “Colombia Narino Supremo” brand.

“At first sip our coffee buyers agreed it was the best Colombian they’d ever tasted,” it says on Starbucks’ website.

To be eligible to take part in the project, coca growers need to demonstrate the ability to produce “high altitude” coffee. They have to do an induction course, and receive training from specialists from the local Department of Agriculture, and also join a local “social organization” of coffee growers.

“It isn’t only for coca-growers, but they are given preference,” said an official from the Department. “Eventually we hope to incorporate 40% of Narino’s coca growers.” The advantage of coffee over other substitute crops is that there is a guaranteed buyer: Fedecafe.

Coca growers, on the other hand, sometimes have trouble getting paid for their crop. Several farmers told Dow Jones Newswires that they had not been paid for their coca for more than a year. “We are ruined. We have been working our whole lives only to end up poor.” The FARC had taken their coca in return for IOU slips, which they have not honored.

Denys used to grow coca near the town of Policarpa in Narino, but her crop was destroyed by the aerial spraying, and she has switched to other crops, including coffee. “We don’t have as much money [since we stopped growing coca], but life is much quieter,” she said.