Colombia occupies a prominent position among world coffee producers and exporters. The coffee sector has counted on the support of many institutions; however, this support was not sufficient to effectively face times of crisis for the past twenty years. Some farmers have therefore adopted new strategies such as the substitution or incorporation of new crops. The Caramanta Farmers Association implemented agroecological farms. This system has allowed farmers to diversify their activities and to obtain better trading conditions. This document aims to learn from the Caramanta experience and the comparisons of the conventional and the agroecological system of coffee crops. The research methodology combines bibliographical review and fieldwork. The first chapter introduces some theoretical frameworks on rural development. The second chapter starts the comparative exercise and describes the conventional system. The third chapter analyses the agroecological system. The concluding chapter highlights the importance of a territorial development strategy rather than a sectoral one.

Today there is no agreement as to how developing countries can achieve sustained economic growth and wellbeing. Over the last 50 years many suggested policy panaceas have failed. Policy makers are now faced with growing economic challenges and confusing policy prescriptions. Against this background, the re-emerging study of institutions now offers new promise in explaining why development has so far eluded so many countries, and consequently, what can be done about it. This thesis deals with questions which to date have only received partial or cursory attention. The study asks: What really are institutions? Why do they matter? What can we learn about them that can help us deal with the current challenging development debacle? This study starts by reaffirming what institutions are. It shows that institutions are inescapable influencers of the way we relate to each other, and the effects we have on our societies’ economic development. Yet so far, scholars and policy makers have not yet fully taken up the opportunity of identifying and utilising the insights that the institutional perspective offers. This study deliberately picks up the challenge. Using the experience of the Uganda coffee sector, it shows that the nature of institutions can be better understood, and their role and impact, better addressed towards pressing development questions. The study shows that by integrating old and new institutionalist perspectives and theories of institutions and institutional change, it is possible to make much more progress towards understanding, explaining and addressing the role and influence of institutions in the development of an economic sector. In so doing this study goes beyond existing works on definition, taxonomy and explanation of institutional influence. It raises new insights to be considered as we face today’s contemporary development challenges. This research should therefore be of interest and value to researchers, students, policy makers and entrepreneurs concerned with economic development and the factors that shape and influence it in practice.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo analizar los factores que influyen en la variación de las exportaciones de café orgánico al mercado de los Estados Unidos en los años 2011-2017, determinando el precio del café orgánico, la desarticulación de los organismos competentes que impulsan el sector cafetalero y las principales carencias de los productores cafetaleros, todo esto bajo el marco de Acuerdo de Promoción Comercial (APC) con los Estados Unidos. Para empezará, se procederá a explicar los conceptos teóricos identificados para la realización de esta investigación, así también determinará las bases de las exportaciones de café orgánico al mercado estadunidense. A su vez, se detalla el tipo y diseño de investigación realizada en el presente documento. Asimismo, se establecieron 3 objetivos específicos relacionadas con identificar los factores influyentes en las fluctuaciones de las exportaciones, las cuales fueron procesadas por un software estadístico, en base a la información histórica recabada de fuentes de exportación con la finalidad de validar si las hipótesis establecidas pueden ser consideradas como los factores de las fluctuaciones de las exportaciones. De acuerdo a lo mencionado líneas arriba, se recolectó información significativa a través de diversas fuentes de acceso como: Información estadística de SUNAT, TRADEMAP, COMTRADE, WTO- Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal y de las entrevistas a los especialistas púbicos y privados conocedores de las exportaciones de café y sus implicancias. / The objective of this research is to analyze the factors that influence the variation of organic coffee exports to the U.S. market in 2011-2017, determining the price of organic coffee, the dismantling of the competent agencies that drive the coffee sector and the main deficiencies of coffee producers, all under the framework of Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) with the United States. To begin, it will proceed to explain the theoretical concepts identified for the conduct of this research, as well as determine the basis for exports of organic coffee to the U.S. market. In turn, it details the type and design of research conducted in this document. In addition, 3 specific objectives were established to identify the factors influencing export fluctuations, which were processed by statistical software, based on historical information collected from export sources in order to validate whether established hypotheses can be considered as factors of export fluctuations. As mentioned above, significant information was collected through various sources of access such as: Statistical information from SUNAT, TRADEMAP, COMTRADE, WTO- Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal and from interviews with public and private specialists with knowledge of coffee exports and their implications. / Tesis