How Grow Ahead Makes a Difference

At Peace Coffee, our dedication to uplifting both our local community and farming communities around the world is deeply rooted in our core values, which is why we donate 1% of purchases made online to one of four organizations of your choice at no extra cost to you. And for Earth Month, we're doubling that commitment to 2%!

One of those organizations is Grow Ahead, which was founded to address the critical challenges faced by small-scale coffee farmers as they confront climate change and food insecurity. These farmers, whose hands cultivate the coffee we enjoy every day, are on the frontlines of climate resilience yet often lack the resources needed to adapt to changing conditions. Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall patterns, and increasing pest pressures threaten both their livelihoods and the future of coffee production worldwide.

Grow Ahead combats climate challenges through community-led agroforestry programs that build sustainable farming systems, enhance biodiversity, and create more resilient landscapes. Their approach includes:

Trust in Indigenous Knowledge and Practices: Placing trust in local knowledge and expertise is a radical shift in community development. That's why all Grow Ahead projects are planned, implemented,and maintained by local cooperatives and organizations; to ensure proper land usage and long-term success.
Farmer-to-Farmer Training: Facilitating knowledge exchange between farmers to spread sustainable practices and traditional wisdom. These trainings empower farmers to implement agroforestry techniques effectively, creating a multiplier effect as knowledge spreads throughout communities. At COMSA specifically, along with planting shade trees, they also aim to train over 1,200 farmers on these techniques.
Climate Resilience Funding: Connecting small-scale farmer organizations with the resources they need to implement large-scale agroforestry projects. By crowdfunding these initiatives, Grow Ahead ensures that farmers can take climate action into their own hands.

Peace Coffee and COMSA

Baby coffee plants at COMSA's Experimental Farm

Our relationship with COMSA (Café Orgánico Marcala, S.A.) in Honduras represents the perfect intersection of our values and Grow Ahead's mission. As a cooperative of over 1,500 small-scale coffee farmers in the Marcala region, COMSA has been a Peace Coffee partner for years, providing us with exceptional organic coffee while pioneering innovative organic farming methods.

When we visited COMSA recently, we witnessed firsthand how their commitment to agroforestry and organic practices has transformed the landscape. Farms that once grew coffee in full sun now flourish under a diverse canopy of native shade trees, creating microclimates that protect coffee plants from extreme temperatures and drought. These shade trees don't just benefit the coffee—they restore biodiversity, sequester carbon, and provide additional food and income sources for farming families.

Grow Ahead's new project with COMSA will expand these successful practices to more farmers in the cooperative, focusing on enhancing shade-grown coffee production through the planting of 160,000 trees and supporting plants. The project will also include farmer trainings on agroforestry implementation, ensuring that these practices continue to spread throughout the region.

To learn more about COMSA, check out this page on our site, and to learn more about Amir’s trip to visit COMSA where we got to see firsthand all the amazing work they’re up to, check out this blog post!

Do Your Part This Earth Month

All month long, we’ve doubled the amount we’re contributing to our partners from 1% of all purchases to 2%, at no extra cost to you. If you want to support Grow Ahead’s mission, be sure to select them before checkout to help fund their new agroforestry project with our friends at COMSA!

When you look at your morning cup of Peace Coffee, consider the many hands that brought it to you: the farmers who planted and harvested the beans, the cooperative members who processed them, and the roasters who carefully developed the flavors you enjoy.

These same hands are now planting trees, building resilience, and creating a more sustainable future for coffee. By supporting Grow Ahead, you're joining hands with these farmers in their vital work.

To learn more about them, head to their website and be sure to give them a follow on Instagram and check out their website!

Join hands with farmers and help build climate resilience and a more sustainable future for coffee!