Lesson 3(a): IDIAF?

What is this IDIAF, anyway? It was a question that I wondered about a lot as I prepared to come to the farm: the IDIAF was a mystery organization who had taken over management of the Finca Alta Gracia during the summer of 2004. I've since educated myself as to who they are, in general Dominican terms, and would like to offer this brief summary of key players at the farm and what, exactly, this IDIAF is doing at Alta Gracia.

First of all, IDIAF stands for Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales (Dominican Institute for Agriculture and Forestry Research). To view their (Spanish language) website, click here. IDIAF is, to my knowledge, a semi-independent organization of the Dominican government, which means that most of the staff changes every four years with the president's administration. One who did not change, however, is a man called Pedro Juan: he is the well-liked and much-respected regional director of IDIAF and, ultimately, the overseer of the Alta Gracia project. The more immediate director of Alta Gracia is Hector, who seems like a great guy, has most experience dealing with coffee, and has been at the farm a couple of times since I've been here. IDIAF's weekday "technician in residence" at the farm is a a man by the name of Filomeno, who returns to his home in San Cristobal (in the southern part of the country) each weekend. It is interesting to me, and I'm sure to the farm's workers (although in a different sense), to see these directors come and go. Filomeno is the one they interact with the most, on a daily basis; the others are infrequent visitors.

Workers on the farm are responsible for maintaining coffee plants and, during this time of year, harvesting, husking, and drying the ripe coffee fruit. They are mainly from the area's Haitian community, which lives self-consciously separately, to an extent, from Los Marranitos' Dominican population (as the harvest approaches, however, more Dominicans show up to pick). Below Filomeno works twenty-year old Piti, who lives on the farm and does most of the direct overseeing of workers (most of whom are older than him and his friends). He plays the guitar with grace and style. Two employees of Bill and Julia's round out the farm community: Lupe, who cleans, cooks, and maintains flowers for Bill and Julia and IDIAF. She also caters to the needs of those who come to stay at the farm, such as myself and groups who come to the Centro. The last farm resident is Pablo, who takes care of Bill and Julia's house and works canucos (terraced gardens) on various parts of the farm property.

The interweaving of institutional bureaucracy and community life that the farm now embodies is still working out quirks as people discover new ways to relate to each other and the land. The farm itself has taken on a much more research-based focus. Filomeno sat down with me recently and went through IDIAF's five currently underway projects.

1) Cafe: IDIAF is testing various varieties of coffee to find out which grow best in this region as well as maintaining organic, environmentally sustainable growing practices on both the experimental plots and and the 300 tareas that are now in production for commercial purposes. There is also a project to test the fiscal benefits of picking only ripe, red coffee (which takes more time initially but saves labor of taking out unripe green fruit later in the process and creates a much higher quality product).
2) Ecotourism: IDIAF is in control of the whole of the farm's property, including the Centro. While Bill and Julia have priority to host groups at the farm, IDIAF also plans to host groups in the Centro.
3) Agroforesteria: IDIAF is studying the adaptation capacity of various plants to this region's climate. This means growing various crops, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and mint, that have not been traditionally grown here. Additionally, a study of the utility of bamboo for reforestation and later use in crafts has just been initiated.
4) Gardens: This project deals with kitchen gardens, gardens that grow food for the table. Diet in the Dominican campo is not incredibly varied, but with a little effort gardens like this could improve daily consumption with the addition of such new/more accessible vegetables as broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, and squash.
5) Roots and tubers: A special IDIAF group comes up every week to experiment with growing sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other root vegetables between rows of coffee -- another way to supply growers with either additional income or more table food, and to mix the nutrients in the soil.

Different groups from IDIAF come to work on each of these five projects; they are all "technicians" and do work that requires their experience in the field. Each time a group from "the institution" visits the farm, I hear of new plans and grand visions -- perhaps too grand to even outline here! Okay, I'll give you a couple tantalizing hints: computers and secretaries in the coffee house/office (complete with telephone and even internet?!), a Centro expansion including a bathing pool.... But the reality of these designs I cannot attempt to verify. I can only do my best in this crazy country, sorting through the five opinions I hear about every subject just to find some sort of middle ground that approximates the truth of the situation. And of course, friend or coffee aficionado, I will do my best to pass on that truth to you through this newsletter!