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Overview:

Manuel Duarte Orduz is a small coffee grower, 55 years of old; his farm “El Tolu” is located in the path of “Paso Antiguo” in the municipality of “Herran” in border zone with the neighboring republic of Venezuela. He is an enterprising man, a motivating leader in his community. He is the older son of the marriage of Mr. Sandalio Duarte and Mrs. Maria Orduz, he was born the 16th of April of 1955 in farm of the village “La Alhambre” of Ragonvalia municipality. When he was 12 years old, living at the farm “La Alcancia” in the path “Paso Antiguo”, he started helping his father with the coffee activities and other and others, to support his nine brothers ahead. When he was 25 years old he bought the farm “El Tolu” in which together to his wife Maria Ines Contreras he began to handle the coffee business, he has a unique son, he was born 23 years ago Luis Alberto. Manuel is a coffee farmer 30 years ago, which have being dedicated to improve its plantations to obtain the greater productivity. One of his dreams us is to be able to renew the totality of his farm in coffee in the coming 2 years and then maintain the production and the coffee quality, always looking for a balance with the nature and the environment. For him, coffee is the dreams activity and thanks to this, he has been able to make some improvements to his house. He dreams about future getting a substantial increase in the production and form that to get the sustainability to be able to offer his wife and son the comforts to live good and to have enough for a nice life in the oldness. In 1980 he bought the lot where he lives today, approximately it has 0.5 hectares in Typica coffee, He began renewing with variety caturra, he lived at his father house and with the help of its wife Maria Ines they build part of the house where they love today. Soon he acquired another lot that has allowed him to extend the coffee plantation. Nowadays he owns an extension of 3 hectares 1.69 of them is seeded in coffee Colombia variety. He has approximately 11,000 coffee trees all this in I associate with shady banana and other trees like (Guamo, Sire, Chachafruto, Caimito, Almendros tree, Cedar, Gauyacanes, Guadua, Pine, Arrayan, Uparan, Alders etc). He is a one of the founders of the Specialty Coffee Producers Group form the village Chinacota, and now 5 years ago in; he got the certifications UTZ Certified, 4C, and today he is looking for the Rainforest Alliance one with a big number of farmers of the village. In his farm the majority of employees is familiar hands and just for the harvesting time he requires handwork form the neighbors. He processes his coffee in a traditional way, all is washed coffee and he dries it in a parabolic system under sun. Manuel Duarte is part of board of directors of his Communal Action Group in his village, is the president and also the representative of the producers to the Coffee Committee Municipality of Chinacota since 8 years. He consider himself as a coffee person ready to help others, always looking for the development of the community hi is represented. One think he remarks about his community is the union they have themselves, pointing them always to move forward, motivated them to renovate his coffee plantations and then to get their families ahead. As a coffee grower what he stands out is the importance of this industry, of the coffee chain; for the whole country because this generates employees and to be part of an institution like the Coffee Institution in Colombia make him to feel really proud. All the orientations and work for a lot of practices to improve the coffee quality has being got through the Extension Service. He thanks god, his wife and his family for all the support they give him and hopes he can be always a good example for his family and neighbors.