Lao PDR - Rural life - Cash crops

A Hmong ethnic minority woman in Ban Long Lan carries a sack of Arabica coffee cherries harvested for ‘Saffron coffee’, Luang Prabang province, Lao PDR. The coffee is grown in the high mountain peaks and plateaus in Luang Prabang over 800 meters above sea level. In November, December and January Saffron Coffee coffee farmers gather all of their family members to hand pick only the red-ripe cherries. It will take several passes over these few months to harvest all of them. These farmers were once producers of opium, but who have been impoverished by lack of a replacement crop in the wake of opium’s prohibition by the Lao government. Saffron Coffee’s goal in helping these farmers grow coffee is to give them a viable and sustainable cash crop, developing their economy, and thus giving them the ability to buy medicines and send their children to school.

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Filename: A0020463cc.jpg
Copyright: Tessa Bunney
Image Size: 4000x2999 / 1.2MB; Asia Lao Lao PDR Laos PDR Southeast Southeast Asia Tessa Bunney countryside ethnic ethnic minorities life minorities minority remote rural shade grown ripe cherries coffee hand-picked pick picking organic Arabica crops crop harvest harvesting Hmong woman female farm subsistence farmer Saffron Coffee Saffron opium replacement crop crops sustainable forest cash crop cash mountainous beans sack exhausted tired
Contained in galleries: Tessa Bunney - All pics, Lao PDR - Rural Life

A Hmong ethnic minority woman in Ban Long Lan carries a sack of Arabica coffee cherries harvested for ‘Saffron coffee’, Luang Prabang province, Lao PDR. The coffee is grown in the high mountain peaks and plateaus in Luang Prabang over 800 meters above sea level. In November, December and January Saffron Coffee coffee farmers gather all of their family members to hand pick only the red-ripe cherries. It will take several passes over these few months to harvest all of them. These farmers were once producers of opium, but who have been impoverished by lack of a replacement crop in the wake of opium’s prohibition by the Lao government. Saffron Coffee’s goal in helping these farmers grow coffee is to give them a viable and sustainable cash crop, developing their economy, and thus giving them the ability to buy medicines and send their children to school.