Project Description ​

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In 2024, LYF partnered with the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Producers and Workers (CLAC) to deliver a Farmers' Voice Radio Academy programme aimed at empowering Latin American coffee producers. Over the course of the two-year project, more than 50 individuals from 24 cooperatives based in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua gained the skills, tools and confidence required to design and deliver participatory radio programmes that raise coffee farmers’ voices and connect them to vital information. All the FVR Resources used in the training programme are free-to-access and available in Spanish.

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Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive; 100% of respondents to an evaluation survey stated that their knowledge of participatory radio had increased and they were confident that their organisation would produce a radio programme series within the next twelve months.

 

Uziel Roblero Hernandez from cooperative society Café Capitán in Chiapas, Mexico, explained: “Participating in the Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy was a deeply enriching experience. I really enjoyed the practical way the content was developed and the opportunity to share it with people from different countries and rural areas. I learned how to plan a purposeful radio programme, connect with my audience, and think of radio as a tool for community transformation. It exceeded my expectations.”

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Five of the participating cooperatives successfully applied for seed funding through the small grants’ competition, submitting proposals that demonstrated evidence-based planning with participation of the target audience and adherence to the FVR values and standards. Four of these radio programme series are already underway, delivering relevant, timely and practical information through weekly broadcasts to tens of thousands of coffee farmers in both Spanish and indigenous languages. Another four series are in the pipeline, which will take the combined reach to over 100,000 coffee farmers. As well as broadcasting on FM radio, the cooperatives are also sharing audio and video content on social media to boost their reach.

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Uziel from Café Capitan again: “I hope our radio programme strengthens the coffee-producing identity of our communities, helps members make informed decisions, and creates a permanent channel for participation. We want our messages to reach even the most remote corners, where there's no internet, but a radio is always on. This will help us communicate with heart and strategy who we are and what we dream of as a cooperative."

 

Outcomes and Impact

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The radio programmes being implemented by graduates of the FVR Academy are delivering long-term impact for coffee-growing communities across the Latin American region.  

 

​Huadquiña Agrarian Coffee Cooperative in Cuzco, Peru, is one of the Academy participants that successfully applied for a small grant to kickstart their radio programme. Since July 2025 they have been broadcasting weekly on two radio stations in both Quechua and Spanish languages to estimated audience of 2,500 people, including their 333 members. Their research has shown that many of the communities in this region do not have access to internet and coffee producing families listen to the radio for three to four hours every day.

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Jhony Gayoso Valdera, General Manager at Huadquiña, said: “Farmers’ Voice Radio strengthens capacities, skills, and knowledge through a shared experience among producers, who express their concerns. These concerns are analysed by the Programme Reference Group and invited professionals to deepen immediate solutions, allowing for improved agronomic practices, higher yields and quality, economic empowerment of both men and women, and greater resilience to climate change. Ultimately, this contributes to more secure livelihoods, maximizing the quality of life for producers in society.”

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Discussion topics are selected by farmers based on the seasonal priorities and challenges experienced by their peers in their coffee farming activities. So far, the radio programme has covered subjects including selective harvesting, coffee drying, financing, price-setting, contracting, pest and disease control and cupping/quality control. One recent episode demonstrated how the radio programme is uniting coffee farmers around the shared challenge of parrots raiding their crops; “Many producers prefer to hire extra workers to chase them off rather than kill them, since they believe these birds play an important role in the ecosystem […] Thanks to the space provided by the radio programme, new ways of thinking are emerging… ways to care for the entire ecosystem, live in community with all living beings, and seek ways to manage problems without causing harm!”

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In Sierra Nevada de Santa Colombia, Seynekun Association has just launched their new weekly radio programme, Conexiones Madre Tierra. The programme is primarily aimed at Seynekun’s membership of 350 families comprising 92% Arhuaco indigenous people, whose livelihoods depend on the agroecological production of coffee, sugarcane, cocoa, and other traditional crops. This is a rural audience with strong cultural and spiritual roots in their territory, considered key players in the region's solidarity economy.

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Arhuaco people value ​​oral communication, clarity of message, and cultural relevance, therefore programme content—which covers sustainable coffee production practices alongside other areas of concern such as food security, nutrition and health and wellbeing—is developed in an accessible, intercultural way with the direct participation of producer families in its design and broadcast. Conexiones Madre Tierra is being broadcast four times a week on two local radio stations to an estimated audience of 30,000 people living in the region.

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​The FVR Academy for Latin America was generously supported by grants from the Coffee Circle Vision Fund I, Allan & Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust, Souter Charitable Trust, Austin Bailey Foundation, Pignatelli Foundation and the Southall Trust, and donations from Husky Events generated through charity partnership at Manchester, Dublin, Brighton and Liverpool Coffee Festivals.