Muddy Boots

Coffee Camp 2025 brought together 126 young people from rural Guatemala to explore how youth can actively shape the future of the coffee sector. Designed as more than a training, the four-day experience addressed key barriers facing rural youth, limited access to land, leadership opportunities, and practical knowledge, by creating space for learning, connection, and leadership development.

Through hands-on sessions, peer exchange, and engagement with role models from across the coffee value chain, participants strengthened technical skills, entrepreneurial thinking, and confidence. The return of former participants as mentors highlighted youth empowerment as a long-term process rather than a one-off intervention.

Coffee Camp 2025 reflects HRNS’s commitment to placing youth at the center of rural transformation, demonstrating how coffee can serve as a platform for inclusive development, leadership, and resilient livelihoods.

Smallholder coffee farmers face the challenge of protecting biodiversity while sustaining their incomes. This article explores insights from Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung’s event at Hamburg Sustainability Week 2025, highlighting agroforestry, soil conservation, and business-driven approaches that make biodiversity a viable and profitable part of coffee farming.