Marta Castro

Revolutionized Colombia's coffee industry through sustainable farming practices and fair trade principles in the 1950s.

Marta Castro (1915–1972) was a Colombian entrepreneur who transformed coffee production through her Café Sostenible program. Born to a coffee farming family in Huila, she witnessed the exploitation of smallholders during the 1948 "Coffee Crisis." In 1953, she founded the Castro Coffee Cooperative, implementing groundbreaking practices:

• Organic pest control methods using local plants
• Direct trade agreements with European buyers
• Profit-sharing model with 10% reinvested in community projects

Her shade-grown coffee techniques preserved biodiversity while increasing yields by 30%. By 1965, her cooperative represented 20% of Colombia's coffee exports. Key innovations included:

• First mobile coffee quality testing lab in Latin America
• Women's leadership training programs
• Climate-resilient seed bank

Her legacy lives on through the UNDP Marta Castro Initiative, which has replicated her model in 15 countries. Modern certifications like Rainforest Alliance directly trace their roots to her work. Her memoir Coffee Roots and Branches remains a classic in agroecology studies.