Tag Archives: coffeelands

Coffee Social Celebrates Fresh Brewed Partnership With Green Mountain

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Heifer International President and CEO Pierre Ferrari (left) and ??? answer questions regarding Heifer's work with Green Mountain Coffee. Photo by Chelsey McNiel, Communications Intern, Heifer Headquarters

Heifer International President and CEO Pierre Ferrari (left) and Americas Vice President Oscar Castaneda (right) answer questions regarding Heifer’s work with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Photo by Chelsey McNiel, Communications Intern, Heifer Headquarters

On Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Heifer International Headquarters enjoyed a Coffee Social and small fair, which celebrated the recent approval of Heifer’s work with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) in Peru and Honduras.

The panel included Heifer’s President and CEO Pierre Ferrari, Americas Vice President Oscar Castañeda, Guatemala Country Director Gustavo Hernandez and Global Partnerships and Alliances team member Kenny Clark. Rick Peyser and Colleen Popkin of GMCR also joined the panel by phone to answer questions.

The joint partnership aims to end “los meses flacos,” or “the thin months,” for 8,000 smallholder farmers in the Central and South America coffeelands. The “thin months” occur after the coffee harvest during the rainy season. Hernandez said during this time many coffee farmers lack proper nutrition for their families and may have to borrow money to survive throughout the year. He added that education is critical to make the correct and positive social changes.

“Something very important is that Green Mountain is leading more coffee farmers to earn more resources and to build food security in their communities,” Hernandez said. “That is the point of the partnership that we have. Our mission is to end hunger, to end poverty, and we are together in this challenge.”

Heifer International employees browse the small fair of products like honey, chocolate and coffee from Guatamala, Honderas, Brazil and others. Photos by Chelsey McNiel, Communications Intern, Heifer Headquarters

Heifer International employees browse the small fair of products like honey, chocolate and coffee from Guatamala, Honderas, Brazil and others. Photos by Chelsey McNiel, Communications Intern, Heifer Headquarters

“The Heifer team in the Americas has taken great strides,” Popkin said, encouraging Heifer staff to keep up the good work.

GMCR representative Rick Peyser agreed, saying, “We appreciate greatly the tremendous work that [Heifer International] is doing on the ground and the impact that [it's] having.”

Heifer International and GMCR hope other organizations will join the efforts to continue working toward food security in the coffeelands.

Susan Sarandon Writes About the Thin Months

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The Thin Months

Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.

Longtime Heifer International supporter Susan Sarandon wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal this past Sunday. Having narrated the 2011 documentary “After the Harvest: Fighting Hunger in the Coffeelands” (watch clip on our YouTube channel), Sarandon remains interested in the wellbeing of coffee farmers and the connection between Heifer and fair-trade coffee vendor, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Read the full text of Sarandon’s article here.

Watch a slideshow of photos from our project in Chiapas, Mexico, in partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Read previous posts on the Thin Months.

Do you have a favorite fair-trade certified coffee? Share it with us in the comments section below.

Let’s Talk… Coffee: Drink (the Right Kind of) Coffee

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I grew up in Guatemala, a coffee-growing country, but I learned to drink coffee while writing my dissertation in Germany, far away from home. This is the paradox of living in the coffeelands sometimes. Quality coffee is enjoyed far away from its origins.

But this also means that coffee has long been a part of my life. How could it not be? When the coffee trade sneezes, Guatemala gets pneumonia. From the shade of coffee plants, I’ve watched as many things have changed in the industry and its history: distribution of land, labor conditions, fluctuations in the economy, etc.

A Heifer project participant poses with her coffee plants in western Guatemala.

Coffee is the second largest market in the world, after oil, so it is a big deal globally, as well. Demand for coffee is so great that its price is getting higher every year. Unfortunately, the amount of money that makes its way to coffee producers is declining every year.

The prices that reach coffee producers are so low that it allows them to survive, and that’s about it. Inputs for growing coffee are expensive, and small-holder coffee farmers aren’t getting a price representative of these inputs or the labor, value of the land, etc.

Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking at Specialty Coffee Association of America’s annual event, and after the presentation, a man asked if we should stop drinking coffee because coffee farming families are going hungry. I immediately grabbed the microphone and said, “NO… but demand the right kind of coffee.”

So what is the right kind of coffee?

Fair Trade is certainly part of the answer. The main idea with Fair Trade is, of course, ensuring that coffee farmers can earn a living wage. But it’s more than that. Fair Trade coffee is brought to your cup through a process that is socially just and ecologically sound. And through Fair Trade, farmers are empowered through strong, democratic organizations.

Fair Trade really is a great thing, but it’s not enough. Long-term, sustainable development is necessary to achieve food security, and that’s the part of the equation Heifer is trying to improve. Through our projects in the Americas, we are diversifying the production of coffee farmers so that they are not only earning income from coffee but also earning income from other sources and growing their own food.

Coffee is a path to community development, when the right process is followed and the right system is in place.  When it is cultivated organically, it improves soil fertility, increases biodiversity, promotes reforestation, creates a healthy environment for workers and produces a cup of coffee well worth drinking. When it is processed in an ecologically sound way, water streams are protected. And when coffee producers are brought together in an organized way, it empowers them and helps their work become economically viable. When you add food security to the mix, that’s the whole package. In coffeelands around the world, this is the perfect equation to ending hunger and poverty.

Happy World Fair Trade Day!

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Hablemos sobre… Café: Beber (el tipo correcto de) Café

Crecí en Guatemala, un país cultivador de café, pero aprendí a beber café mientras escribía mi disertación en Alemania, lejos de casa. Esto es a veces la paradoja de vivir en las tierras del café. La calidad del café se disfruta lejos de sus orígenes. Pero esto también significa que el café ha formado parte de mi vida mucho tiempo. ¿Cómo no podría serlo? Cuando el comercio del café estornuda, a Guatemala le da neumonía. Desde la sombra de las plantas de café, he visto como muchas cosas han cambiado en la industria y su historia: la distribución de la tierra, las condiciones laborales, fluctuaciones en la economía, etc.

El café representa el segundo mercado más grande en el mundo, después del petróleo, por lo que también es importante a nivel global. La demanda de café es tan grande que su precio se está incrementando cada año. Desafortunadamente, el monto de dinero que llega a los productores de café está disminuyendo cada año.

Los precios que llegan a los productores de café son tan bajos que les permiten sobrevivir, y solo eso. Los insumos para cultivar café son caros y los pequeños agrícolas de café no reciben un precio de acuerdo a estos insumos o su trabajo, valor de la tierra, etc. El mes pasado, tuve el placer de hablar en el evento anual de la Asociación de Cafés Especiales de América, y después de la presentación, un hombre preguntó si deberíamos parar de beber café porque las familias agricultoras de café están pasando hambre. Inmediatamente agarré el micrófono y dije, “NO… pero exija el tipo correcto de café.”

Entonces, ¿cuál es el tipo correcto de café?

El Comercio Justo es definitivamente parte de la respuesta. La idea principal del Comercio Junto es por supuesto, asegurar que los agricultores de café se ganen un sueldo base. Pero es más que eso. El café de Comercio Justo llega hasta su taza a través de un proceso que es socialmente justo y ecológicamente sensato. Y a través del Comercio Justo, se empodera a los agricultores mediante organizaciones fuertes y democráticas.

El Comercio Justo es realmente una buena cosa, pero no es suficiente. Es necesario el desarrollo sostenible a largo plazo para lograr seguridad alimentaria, y esa es la parte de la ecuación que Heifer está tratando mejorar. A través de nuestros proyectos en las Américas, estamos diversificando la producción de los agricultores de café, para que no sólo estén ganando un ingreso del café sino logrando ingresos de otros recursos y cultivando sus propios alimentos.

El café es el camino hacia el desarrollo comunitario, cuando el proceso correcto se sigue y el sistema correcto está en su lugar. Cuando se cultiva orgánicamente, mejora la fertilidad de la tierra, aumenta la biodiversidad, promueve la reforestación, crea un ambiente sano para los trabajadores y produce una taza de café que merece la pena beberse. Cuando se procesa de manera ecológica, los arroyos de agua se protegen. Y cuando los productores de café se reúnen de manera organizada, les empodera y les ayuda a que su trabajo se convierta económicamente viable. Cuando añades seguridad alimentaria a la mezcla, ese es el paquete completo. En las tierras del café alrededor del mundo esta es la ecuación perfecta para erradicar el hambre y la pobreza.

¡Feliz Día del Comercio Justo!

Weekly Article Roundup: A Sustainable Cup of Joe

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This week on the Heifer Blog we’ve taken a closer look at how chronic hunger is a common challenge in coffee-growing communities all over the world. Heifer helps ease food insecurity by helping to diversify coffee farmers’ income as well as by providing food sources through our model for sustainable community development.

In other Heifer news:

Never Take for Granted

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In a previous life, I served as Chairman of the Board for Ben and Jerry’s. It was very important to me that the company change its practices so that we were using fair trade products for the ice cream – coffee, vanilla, chocolate and all the other goodies.

I assumed that in creating fair trade relations with the co-ops and farmers that it would solve the poverty problem. But you know what they say when you make assumptions. Don’t get me wrong, I had great intentions but I didn’t have an understanding of the full picture.

While purchasing fair trade is important (and I’ll be back to discuss that!), it’s not the complete solution. The farmers still struggle with los meses flacos (the thin months). What I have learned since being at Heifer is that it is very important to pay attention to the details of impact. We need to have an understanding of the full process, the conditions and the theory of change. Heifer is doing this and this is how we work with the communities to truly work to end hunger and poverty.

photo by Amy Davenport

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Heifer, we are working in the coffeelands. Earlier this week we shared on the blog posts about seasonal poverty, a (must see!) short documentary called After the Harvest: Fighting Hunger in the Coffeelands, and also how to choose coffee with a conscience. These posts were in correlation with my colleagues attending a conference in Portland discussing our projects with Green Mountain Coffee and meeting with other organizations working in the same sector.

I see the full cycle now and as I still serve on the board of Ben and Jerry’s (although no longer the chairman), I can bring the knowledge and the understanding that I have learned from our work at Heifer. While it’s wonderful to have good intentions, you never want to take for granted the impact that you want to achieve.

How to Choose Coffee with a Conscience

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As we discuss the challenge that coffee-growing communities have all over the world this week, let’s take a look back at a previous post on how to choose a coffee with a conscience. 

Originally posted October 25, 2011. 

The next time you buy coffee, make sure you are environmentally aware about where you coffee comes from. The words Fair Trade, Shade-Grown, and Organic are just a couple of buzzwords that are now being used to describe your cup-of-joe.

Haven’t heard of these words? Here is what they mean:

What’s shade-grown coffee?

  • “Shade-grown” generally describes coffee grown under a canopy of diverse species of shade trees, often on small farms using traditional techniques.
  • Shade-grown coffee, in contrast to sun-grown or “technified” coffee, provides food and shelter for songbirds, as well as other animals and plants.
  • Shade trees also provide natural mulch, which reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. Up to 40 species of trees can be found on traditionally managed shade coffee plantations; these trees protect the coffee plants that grow beneath them from rain and sun, help maintain soil quality, reduce the need for weeding and aid in pest control. Organic matter from the shade trees reduces erosion, contributes nutrients to the soil, and prevents metal toxicities.
  • As rainforests disappear, shade coffee farms offer one of the last places for birds to feed and rest in many tropical regions. In addition to birds, shade coffee plantations provide habitat for orchids, insects, mammals (such as bats), reptiles, and amphibians.

What’s organic coffee?

  • Organic coffee growing strives for a balance with nature, using methods and materials which are of low impact to the environment.
  • Organic farming replenishes and maintains soil fertility, eliminates the use of toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and builds a biologically diverse agriculture. In a natural ecosystem, nature constantly works to correct imbalances. Organic farmers do the same by selecting the most environmentally friendly solutions to the pest and disease problems that affect their crops.
  • When a grower or processor is certified organic, a public or private organization verifies that it meets or exceeds standards defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

What is fair trade coffee?

  • Certified Fair Trade coffee has been traded and sold according to international fair trade criteria, which includes:
    • Farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their coffee. If world price rises above this floor price, farmers will be paid a small premium above market price.
    • Coffee importers provide credit to farmers against future sales.
    • Importers and roasters agree to develop direct, long-term trade relationships with producer groups, cutting out middlemen (or “coyotes”) and bringing greater commercial stability to an extremely unstable market.
  • The fair trade movement is based on the idea that producers in developing countries are capable of achieving economic success provided they receive fair prices in international markets for what they produce.
Learn more about organic, shade-grown and/or Fair Trade coffee at

www.FairTradeCertified.org

www.qai-inc.com

Heifer Ends Hunger in the Coffeelands

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In 2011 Heifer was featured in a short documentary film titled, After the Harvest: Fighting Hunger in the Coffeelands. This film depicts the struggle of small-scale coffee farmers and their families during “the thin months” and how Heifer and other nonprofits help families diversify their sources of food and income, reducing their dependence on coffee for livelihood.

Watch the film now to learn more:

Seasonal Poverty in the Coffeelands

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Chronic hunger is a common challenge in coffee-growing communities all over the world. Coffee is the most traded agricultural commodity in the world, and the 25 million coffee farmer families in the world depend upon coffee as their sole source of income. For every pound of gourmet coffee sold, a coffee farmer may receive between $0.12 and $0.25. Once the season’s harvest is sold, however, the income rarely lasts throughout the remainder of the year.

In Mexico and Central America, los meses flacos, or “the thin months” refer to the three to eight months out of every year when two-thirds of small-scale coffee farming families cannot maintain their normal diet. This phenomenon actually occurs in other coffee-growing parts of the world, taking place during the region’s rainy season (and more widely called seasonal poverty).

Seasonal Poverty Cycle

To ease food insecurity in the coffeelands, Heifer works to help coffee farmers diversify their income as well as food sources. Heifer supplies farmers the inputs and training a family needs to make it through the lean months, including rabbits, fish, honeybees and mushrooms as well as training on how to create local markets.

Last week, Heifer’s Vice President for the Americas Area Program Oscar Castaneda and other staff from Heifer Headquarters, as well as staff from our Peru and Honduras offices attended the Specialty Coffee Association of America 2012 event. Our staff worked to inform and expand our collaboration with other entities interested in improving the food security of coffee farming families.

This week, we’ll take an extended look at the lives of coffee growers, their struggles, and how the Heifer model for sustainable community development offers commodity farmers a way to feed their families and supplement their income when coffee cannot.