MEET
Maria Fernanda Robles
Sueno Dulce - Empowering Women to Take Charge of their Futures
Her journey
Maria Fernanda Robles is a smallholder woman coffee farmer from Tarrazú, Los Santos, Costa Rica. Many farmers in the region, like Maria Fernanda, rely on coffee as the primary household income. This meant she was dependent on the coffee harvest cycle, reducing her steady household income to only three months of the year. Smallholder farmers like Maria Fernanda must find ways to diversify their income sources, and while many have ideas, they most often lack access to diversification tools, financing, and business knowledge, leaving them vulnerable for many months of the year.
In 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maria Fernanda was grappling with the challenges of food insecurity and struggling to provide for her family. It was during this time that Maria Fernanda enrolled in Bean Voyage’s Resilient Communities Initiative, giving her access to tutorials on diversification practices and business skills.
The Food Security Program works closely with smallholder women coffee farmers to provide monthly food baskets, tutorials on productive farm practices, and training on business skills. With secured access to food throughout the year, farmers are empowered to diversify their income. At the end of the program, Fernanda applied for a seed fund to kickstart a beekeeping project on her farm.
“I want to implement a beekeeping project to generate additional income for my family economy, as well as for the pollination of my coffee plantation and for my family's consumption.”
Through training, Maria Fernanda learned how to set up a bee garden, acquiring basic financing and beekeeping knowledge. She started with six bee colonies and, within a year, transformed them into a thriving twelve-column apiary by the end of 2022. Maria Fernanda’s journey has not stopped there. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to register her honey brand, Sueño Dulce (Sweet Dreams), allowing her to sell her honey in local supermarkets. In just the first year of operation, her brand has generated more than $886.90 in additional income for her family.
Maria Fernanda's story is a testament to the impact of the Bean Voyage model, demonstrating how with the right support and resources, smallholder women coffee farmers cannot only overcome adversity but also build resilient and thriving businesses for themselves and their families for the longer term.