"USAID began to realize that the traditionalcommodity approaches that had worked well with many agricultural products were neither economically nor environmentally sustainable in the long term, especially for smallholder coffee farmers. This evolution in USAID's approach allowed a quality driven coffee project to emerge in Peru's Apurimac River Valley. Partnering with Seattle's Best Coffee Company and the nonprofit rural development organization, Winrock International, USAID funded the renovation of over 2,000 hectares of coffee land over a four-year period, making substantial improvements in both harvesting and processing practices. While USAID provided the funding, Winrock worked within the farm communities, and Seattle's Best Coffee provided high profile market access. The positive results prompted Michael Maxey from the USAID Peru office to explore the idea of using the Peru model worldwide. While seeking potential private sector partners, those who understood, or were at least attempting to address, the interplay between quality and sustainability, Maxey found the SCAA. Suddenly, "global reach" seemed like a real possibility."