Alliance with South Korean partner is strengthened

• John Kwon, CEO of the Future Forest organization, visited CATIE and other points of interest in Costa Rica, which was coordinated by representatives of the Environmental Economics and Sustainable Agribusiness Unit (UEAAS/EfD).

October 26, 2023. To learn how coffee and honey production is developed in Costa Rica under sustainability and quality approaches, as well as to strengthen the relationship with CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) on sustainable business issues and the fight against desertification and drought, were part of the goals expressed during the meetings held with John Kwon, representative of the organization Future Forest, from South Korea. Future Forest, de Corea del Sur.

John Kwon visited both Paraguay and Costa Rica. He specifically mentioned that in Costa Rica there is a lot of scientific knowledge developed on the subject of forests, but he considers that agricultural science is still looking for better and more sustainable ways of development, so he hopes that through this visit opportunities will open up, for example, with the coffee growing sector or even with the management of organic residues from the farms.

Evelyn Chaves, senior specialist in sustainable agribusiness, from CATIE's UEAAS/EfD, and representative of the institution as part of the civil society organizations before the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), expressed that strengthening the relationship with Future Forest was one of the main objectives of the meeting. She added that a first support was received from them in 2021, which was strengthened during CATIE's participation in the World Forestry Congress of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), held in Seoul, in 2022.

"In order to identify some cooperation interests such as coffee trade from small producers in Costa Rica for the Future Forest support community in South Korea and to continue working on the fight against desertification and drought, is how we hope to continue strengthening the relationship by sharing mutual interests," said the agribusiness specialist.

Coffee-scented visit

Since Mr. Kwon's arrival in Costa Rica, UEAAS/EfD staff organized and shared various learning and exchange experiences with coffee and honey producers from different areas of the country, as well as with CATIE researchers from units related to agroforestry and forestry.

Anthony Gamboa, CATIE's agribusiness technician, explained that they visited the Santa Anita Farm in the Naranjo area, and the Mata - Café Don Victor and JAKE coffee farms, as well as the Ecomiel honey production company in the Los Santos area, where they shared with coffee producing families and learned about the process to obtain an export quality product.

"For the agribusiness team this alliance may represent opportunities to develop actions to support Costa Rican coffee producers to reach the Korean market under the Future Forestumbrella , but ensuring that these come from sustainable production systems," said Gamboa.