Coffee Genogram: An Analysis of the Tradition of the Rural Family in Southwest Columbia

Abstract

The analysis of the family context in rural communities can provide helpful insight to promote technology appropriation processes. For this study, the family context and its influence on the coffee tradition were investigated within the framework of a proposal to build knowledge and transfer technology. To address this aim, the construction of genograms was carried out, accompanied by semi-structured interviews with coffee women from a producer’s association in the department of Huila, Colombia. Key elements around their training process as coffee growers were analyzed based on the consolidation of a tradition derived from parents and grandparents, but with unknowns regarding their continuity in future generations. The findings showed a group of women, most of whom have lived and grown around coffee farming, where their role has changed from a position of support in the home to become leading actors in the coffee production processes. Opportunities and challenges were found in the face of the possibilities in the role of woman in the coffee growing development, but important questions arise regarding the role that the following generations may have in the future.