The Story
Finca Rosita sits in the Illimani community of Caranavi, Bolivia, a breathtaking region where the landscape shifts quickly from fields of potatoes and quinoa to dense plantings of coffee, plantain, and yucca. The farm spans 32 hectares entirely dedicated to coffee and is named in honor of Rosa Angelica Aramayo, the beloved matriarch of the Valverde–Aramayo family.
Caranavi has long been the heart of Bolivian coffee. Production first took off in the 1960s after agricultural reform, and exports surged in the 1990s when private-sector investment fueled a push for volume. Quality, however, became the focus in the early 2000s, when international development agencies—including USAID—supported producers with processing infrastructure, training in Good Agricultural Practices, and technical improvements across the region. While many of those organizations have since moved on, groups like GIZ and several Northern European nonprofits continue to work with local farmers.
Today, both Caranavi’s municipal government and Bolivia’s national leadership actively support specialty coffee through quality competitions and seedling programs, including “El Programa,” which provides heavily subsidized coffee plants to smallholders. A new, younger generation is getting involved, and the outlook for Bolivian coffee production is promising. Many producers are in their 30s and early 40s.
Finca Rosita carries this history forward. Its unique Andean terrain and evolving agricultural landscape shape the distinct complexity and elegance that Bolivian coffees are known for.
