In the lush highlands of northern Nicaragua, nestled between two natural reserves, La Cumplida isn’t your average coffee farm. Over two decades, massive reforestation and innovative agriculture practices have allowed it to transform the region, showing how a different approach to coffee farming can help restore ecosystems and shore up rural livelihoods.
The sprawling farm, acquired by French agronomist Clément Ponçon in the 1990s, now covers over 5,400 acres in the central valleys of the country, and was. Now led by Clément’s son Eric Ponçon, La Cumplida sells shade-grown coffee and hardwood timber, while tending primary forests placed in conservation.
Over the years, Ponçon and La Cumplida have made long-term investments in agricultural methods that strengthen crop resilience and bolster livelihoods. Coffee is lovingly tucked under a canopy of native trees, improving pollination and reducing pests. When the plants’ leaves fall to the ground, the soil retains more water and birds and insects flourish.
The farm has worked with the Rainforest Alliance to get their practices certified under the organization’s newly announced Regenerative Agriculture Standard. The non-profit’s global lead for regenerative agriculture, Juliana Jaramillo, explains that this certification measures the farm’s standards for soil health and fertility, biodiversity, and climate resilience. “We always look for different practices or areas that deliver multiple benefits,” Jaramillo said. Reducing the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers have lowered farm costs, and allowed different coffee varieties to be planted at the farm. “As you move into the regenerative space, you start to see that the ecosystem recovers and starts to deliver better services,” she added.
Some of the trees that shelter the coffee — such as mahogany and walnut — have been sustainably harvested and sold to build homes and schools in the local community, providing the farm an additional income source. La Cumplida focuses on planting a mix of trees and crops so that farmers can harvest multiple products over time, creating a more stable and reliable income. Beyond timber, trees in this canopy produce flowers rich in nectar and pollen, and La Cumplida has recently started selling honey. “We had the first harvest this past year, and we’re very excited because it’s pesticide-free honey and a product of agroforestry flowers,” Ponçon said. Next, he hopes to introduce melipona honey, the prized medicinal honey once used by the Mayans and Aztecs for healing and ritual.
These practices have helped biodiversity return to La Cumplida. As with much of Central America’s highlands, Nicaragua’s Matalpa region was deforested in the late 19th century for livestock and coffee farming. But La Cumplida’s approach to coffee crops is now enhancing both the land and the ecosystem’s health. “We immediately saw the link between birds and the regenerative actions that were on the ground,” said Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, a quantitative ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who visited the farm in 2018.
Since her visit, Ruiz-Gutierrez has worked with the local community to survey birds, collecting information on the ground at the farm and through the worldwide database eBird. Warblers, for instance, are one of 240 species of birds now around the farm. These surveys can help tease out how smart agricultural practices can continue to improve the ecosystem. For example, Ruiz-Gutierrez added, farmworkers have learned that leaving more standing dead trees leads to more woodpeckers. “Birds are not just really good indicators — they’re fun to monitor. Most farmers are very proud of what they protect. The birds are the testament of their labor.”
For Ruiz-Gutierrez, La Cumplida offers a glimpse of what the future of farming in the region could look like. “I’ve worked in coffee for a long time,” Ruiz-Gutierrez said. “But the systems that I worked in had not incorporated as many different regenerative practices. La Cumplida is such a big farm, and the family has been committed to sustainability for so long. It’s really unique.”
Key to the farm’s success is continuously modifying its approach, says La Cumplida’s director of certification programs, Migdalia Espinoza Luna. “We’re always looking for alternatives to implement,” said Espinoza Luna, who has worked at La Cumplida for two decades. “Over time, you have to try different coffee varieties, experiment in different kinds of partnerships, and document everything so we can look for areas to improve.”
To Ponçon, regenerative coffee production needs to also benefit local farmers and the surrounding rural communities. He’s focused on identifying needs like housing, water access, and education, including holding summer camps for local children. The neighboring communities are made of farmworkers, many of whom are illiterate, Ponçon said. “Investing in their needs allows La Cumplida to continue attracting a labor force.”
He’s learned there are some significant barriers for farmers, including steep up-front costs for farm owners and the need to update farmers’ skillsets. “It’s a long-term investment,” Ponçon said, while the coffee market is very volatile. Still, studies show that over time, a regenerative approach can increase net farm income by 20 to 30 percent.
Experts like Jaramillo of the Rainforest Alliance believe that profit will grow with increasing consumer interest. “Consumers are more and more aware of the benefits of good farming, the benefits of adaptation to climate change, biodiversity conservation, and its links to better health and livelihoods,” Jaramillo said.
“Regenerative agriculture is no longer a choice — it’s a necessity now.”
Conventional agriculture is one of the biggest drivers of climate change and global biodiversity loss—and continuing business as usual is simply not an option. What if we could radically overhaul our global farming system? What if we could not only reduce the harm it causes, but actively repair damaged ecosystems and heal the health of the Earth? Regenerative agriculture is emerging as one of the most promising answers. Together with millions of farmers and rural workers around the world, the Rainforest Alliance is helping lead the transition towards a more resilient, equitable, and regenerative future for coffee.