Vol. XXV No. 7
Making a Difference
Kerri Goodman-Small & Miles Small
The View Editor’s Prologue
W
elcome again to our annual “Making a Difference” issue. It is our chance to recognize some of the great work many of us are doing in the coffee world that improves lives and futures. Remember that this year CoffeeTalk is once again donating $1000 to the non-profit that receives the most click-through to their website. So please, take a little time to read about these groups and if something is interesting, CLICK on it! You will be helping the non-profit and while you are there, you might consider a donation to help them along. The world today is much different than it was last year at this time. The price of coffee has dropped 47% from its peak, the financial crisis in Europe has taken its toll on consumer confidence and investor optimism, the much anticipated rise of China has not materialized as China struggles economically – both internally and globally. All of these factors are affecting the welfare of coffee growers worldwide.
Global climate change is dramatically reducing crop yields throughout Latin America and Africa as changing weather patterns foster crop pests and diseases that are leaving whole farms barren. In Peru this month, we visited a farm where disease and rust (Roya) had not only destroyed this year’s crop, but also the tender new growth that will bear next years crop.
Are small farms a realistic and sustainable business model? Are smallholders too vulnerable to changes in microclimates that larger farms are more capable of weathering? Are buyers in consuming countries romanticizing the idea of small farms without actually considering the human and social costs? Possibly, but these questions are too broad for today, for now.
These are hard times for growers on smallholdings, yields are going down, and pricing is as well. Often reliable buyers of high quality coffees are looking for lower grade product in order to reduce costs in consuming countries, and the entire industry is potentially poised on the edge of another crisis. For years, the markets have placed demands on quality with the promise of future reward. Though higher quality is a focus, the market is, so far, not keeping its promise.
Today, right now, people need help and resources in order to carry on, and within these pages are intrepid folks within non-profits who set out each day to make a difference for others without consideration of personal gain or comfort. Today, now, please read their stories and if you find meaning there, support them with donations of time, money, and needed resources. And, remember to CLICK!
Calendar
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July 3
Cup of Excellence Live Auction - Costa Rica
July 11-12
Hawaii Lodging, hospitality and Foodservice expo
July 12
Cup of Excellence Live Auction - Guatemala
July 19-21
Hawaii coffee Assoc. 17th Annual Conference and Trade Show
Aug. 16-19
12th Annual Roasters Guild Retreat - Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, WA
Aug. 16-18
International Tea Fair - Hong Kong
Sept. 9-10
The Canadian Coffee and Tea Show - Toronto, O.N
Sept.11-13
Tea Connections: The North American Tea Conference
Aug. 8-9
Expovending & OCS 2012 - São Paulo, Brazil
Sept. 19-21
Eu’Vend + coffeena - Cologne, Germany
August 9-11
Nordic Barista Cup - Copenhagen, Denmark
Sept. 20-22
Coteca - Hamburg, Germany
Aug. 12-14
Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo - Anaheim, CA
Sept. 20-22
Pacific Coast Coffee Association 81st Annual Convention - South Newport Coast, CA
Contents
10 12
Choosing A Charity
Top 10 List Of Things To Consider In Developing A Cause Based Marketing Program
Alliance for Cup of Excellence Cup of Excellence
Who We are Owners
CEO/Publisher/Advertising Director Kerri Goodman-Small, ext 1 | 877.426.6410 | 206.795.4471 kerri@coffeetalk.com Editor-in-Chief Miles Small, ext 2 | 206.795.2835 miles@coffeetalk.com
International Development
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Coffeelands World Gifts Espresso Café
Benefiting the Coffeelands Trust & The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development
Fair Trade USA Co-Op link
Grounds for Health
Coffee with a Cause: Annual Green Coffee Auction
Coffee Quality Institute
Coffee Corps Wants You! New Database Online
Rocky Rhodes, 818.347.1378 rocky@coffeetalk.com Bill Kaprelian, ext 7 bill@coffeetalk.com
Design
Print Design Marcus Fellbaum, ext 5 marcus@coffeetalk.com Web Design Justin Goodman, ext 6 justin@coffeetalk.com
Administrative
Administrative Director, Accounting, Subscriptions Ashley Prentice, ext 4 ashley@coffeetalk.com Data Wizard Orion Zick, ext 4 orion@coffeetalk.com
Mailing Info
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The Coffee Trust
The Kukuy Education Project
Hemisphere Coffee Roasters Farm Kitchen Upgrade
Child Aid
Brewing a Difference Through Literacy
Mail: HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SW Vashon, WA 98070 Phone: 206.686.7378 Fax: 866.373.0392 Web: www.coffeetalk.com
Disclaimer
CoffeeTalk does not assume the responsibility for validity of claims made for advertised products and services. We reserve the right to reject any advertising. Although we support copyrights and trademarks, we generally do not include copyright and trademark symbols in our news stories and columns. Circulation: CoffeeTalk (ISSN 1084-2551) is mailed monthly (10 times per year) with combined June/July and November/December issues, also bonus mailing/distribution for Education Guides and foodservice/hospitality and coffee conventions/shows throughout the year. Postmaster: Send address changes to HNCT, LLC, 25525 77th Ave SW, Vashon, WA 98070 Subscription: The cost of a subscription in the U.S. is $47.50 per year; in Canada, the cost is $72.00. Free to qualified industry professionals. Non-qualified requests may be rejected. Publisher reserves the right to limit the number of free subscriptions. For subscription inquiries, please call 206.686.7378 x1 or subscribe online at www.CoffeeTalk.com. Copyright © 2012, HNCT, LLC, All Rights Reserved
Contents
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Finca Rosablanca
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Rainforest Alliance
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Café Fememino Foundation
Food 4 Farmers
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Women in Coffee Microcredit Union
Sustainable Organic Coffee Farming and Coffee Tour
Training and Certification Programs for Better Farm Management in Ethiopia
SOPPEXCCA: Integrating Food Security Into its Long-Term Plan
Radio Lifeline
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Cortez Coffee Company
54
Coffee Kids
56
Pueblo a Pueblo
58
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Fara Foundation
60
44
Basic Health International
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Coffee Lifeline
More than Fair Cameroon Coffee Seedling Program
Coffee Kids
Organic School Gardens/ Summer Camps
Fara Foundation
Transportable Gynecological Bed
Cup for Education
El Maestro En Casa in Intubucá
Initiatives That Create Change
Microcredit Union for Women in Coffee in Guatemala
4C Association
Uniting Efforts to Meet Sustainability Challenges in the Coffee Sector
Coffee & Climate
Initiative for Coffee & Climate
El Dorado Coffee & Tea Co.
Project2Love - “Books for Education” - Nicaragua
Profits 4 Purpose Software
Impacting Coffee NGOs Worldwide
Agros International
Ending Poverty Through Land Ownership
Growers First Foundation Total Health Village
best new PRODUCT
Sponsors Index Company
Phone Web
BriteVision
415.546.2029
www.britevision.com
59
Canterbury Coffee Corp.
1.888.273.8684
www.canterburycoffee.com
27
Coffee Fest
800.232.0083
www.coffeefest.com
47
Curtis
800.421.6150 www.wilburcurtis.com
45
Custom Card Solutions, Inc.
303.790.0400
www.ccsicards.com
25
Espresso Me Services
360.213.0715
www.espressomeservice.com
51
Fair Trade USA
510.663.5260
www.fairtradeusa.org
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Finum by Riensch & Held GmbH & Co. KG
+49.407.34240
www.finum.com
Flavor & Fragrance Specialties
201.825.2025
www.ffs.com
11
Follett Corporation
610.252.7301
www.follettice.com
43
Fres-co System USA, Inc.
215.721.4600
www.fresco.com
15
Hamburg Messe
+04.035.692.444
www.hamburg-messe.de
39
International Coffee Consulting Group
818.347.1378
www.intlcoffeeconsulting.com
61
Java Jacket
800.208.4128
www.javajacket.com
21
Loring Smart Roast
707.526.7215
www.smartroaster.com
Melitta SystemService USA, Inc.
847.717.8900
www.melittasystemservice.com
OptiPure
800.333.2556 www.optipurewater.com
55
Orleans Coffee Exchange
800.344.7922
www.orleanscoffee.com
41
Pacific Bag, Inc.
800.562.2247
www.pacificbag.com
29
Pack Plus Converting
909.902.9929
www.packplus.com
53
Plastic Parameters Inc.
877.594.0805
www.plasticparameters.com
49
Pod Pack International, LTD.
225.752.1160
www.podpack.com
23
Scolari Engineering S.p.A.
856.988.5533
www.scolarieng.com
3
Smoothie Essentials Supplement-Boosts
415.382.6535
www.smoothieessentials.com
57
Spiroflow Systems, Inc.
704.291.9595
www.spiroflowsystems.com
33
Stalkmarket Products (Asean Corporation)
503.295.4977
www.stalkmarketproducts.com
Two Rivers Coffee, LLC
973.685.6564
www.tworiverspack.com
63
uVu Lid Company
561.982 7770
www.uvulid.com
13
Venco Business Solutions
800.762.9962
www.vencosolutions.com
35
Vessel Drinkware
855.883.7735
www.vesseldrinkware.com
17
502.797.2937
www.WeldonFlavorings.com
31
8 Weldon Flavorings
Page
19
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Choosing A Charity
Top 10 List Of Things To Consider In Developing A Cause Based Marketing Program by Jeffrey Nichols, Flavor & Fragrance Specialties
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Select a cause that you truly believe in. Resist the temptation of selecting the popular option as it offers lower risk. These are often much easier to implement as much more infrastructure is available upfront. The problem is that you will lack the passion and conviction necessary to drive the program and this will show in the results. Clearly understand why most organizations don’t pursue such endeavors. It is very simple as to why they don’t as they are very challenging and remember that they will be challenging for you as well. Expect this hard work from the get go but the reward is worth the effort. Get feedback from your target audience early in the process. It is important that you learn what the critical elements to a program are and by sharing your thoughts you can garner instant feedback. We often are afraid to ask for feedback for work in progress but the end result will be much better if you do.
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Enlist the input of ideas in the decision making process in the early stages. It is much easier to garner the support necessary for the rollout in the early stages of the process. People will feel part of the program and more likely to support the effort when needed. Take some risks. Don’t be afraid of some hiccups along the way, as nothing is perfect and there surely will be some issues crop up. These programs thrive on novel, innovative ideas and your program will likely lack the required buzz if don’t stretch the limits of what is common within your organization. Minimize the effort that is required by the customer. By you providing the sweat equity that is required to make the process smooth and turnkey, participation will increase due to the increased ease of use.
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Use the cause for inspiration to achieve excellence in the process. Always remember and remind people that the reward is much bigger than you are. It is easy to get bogged down in the process but the light at the end of the tunnel is helping people… and that is a good thing. Share the success of helping people with everyone in the organization. Make sure everyone in the organization basks in the humanitarian effort of helping people and works toward spreading that gift of caring to everyone they come in contact with. Keep the program simple. Simple to understand, simple to communicate, simple to execute, simple to enroll, simple to reward, turnkey simple, and simple to enjoy.
Have fun. In the words of the immortal basketball coach John Wooden, “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” Make a difference. Start today.
NE QUARTER
can save a life. OUR GOAL
PARTICIPATION IS SIMPLE
Cervical cancer is the #1 killer of women in coffee growing regions, yet one woman can be screened and treated for the low-cost of 25¢. FFS has partnered with Grounds for Health, a non-profit organization that establishes women’s health care in poor rural areas. Together we can help those who don’t have the resources to help themselves.
Purchase any of our coffee flavors inspired by the hardworking women in coffee-growing regions and add the Grounds for Health logo and links to your packaging. We will provide you with a wide range of marketing support to help make your program a success. No added contribution is required, it’s that simple.
START SAVING LIVES TODAY! E-MAIL: FFSBrewingChange@ffs.com | PHONE: 800.998.4337
facebook.com/BrewingChange
@BrewingChange
Alliance for Coffee Excellence
Cup of Excellence Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Susie Spindler www.cupofexcellence.org Various Coffee Growing Countries susies@cupofexcellence.org 406-542-3509 therefore causing a commodity-like sameness even in the specialty industry. The result of the now 75 Cup of Excellence competitions has been to reinvent an industry that is now focused on unique qualtities, micro climates, varietals and on constant discovery of quality protection and farmer recognition.While the fear was that the competition would cherry pick the best coffees and leave the rest, it has had the opposite effect, and has actually increased the total amount of quality coffees exported at a premium from COE partner countries.
Project Description The Cup of Excellence is the most stringent compeititon for top quality coffees in the world. It awards a country’s best coffees and sells them to the highest bidder during a global internet auction. It is open to all farmers equally without a fee and the rules are structured to allow any farmer that produces exceptional quality to win regardless or economics or gender. These winning coffees are chosen by a select group of national and international cuppers. Coffees of this exemplary quality are rare. These coffees are perfectly ripe, carefully picked with well developed body, pleasant aroma and a lively sweetness that only extremely high quality specialty coffees contain. Each winning coffee has its own flavor signature from the earth where it grows and all have been handcrafted in such a way as to enhance these unique characteristics. The competition’s extrememly stringent quality selection procedures with a focus on balanced acidity and perfect sweetness have set a global standard for those cuppers looking for top coffees. Roasters that have these beautiful coffees on their shelves find that their customers are more engaged and are more likely to appreciate the differentiated flavor profiles that only top coffees can that generate.
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The Cup of Excellence program has had huge impacts on both the farmers and on the specialty industry worldwide. Before there was Cup of Excellence much of the world’s coffees were blended together,
The coffees that have been discovered and sold at auction have allowed a new group of specialty roasters focused on extremely high quality coffees and buildng relationships with farmers to thrive. The open auction for these award winning coffees has supported a restructuring of top pricing and reset what is possible for farmers that produce incredible coffees. The fact that the COE program forces transparency, chain of custody and a large financial reward to the winning farmers has given thousands of farmers a reason to know the value of their coffees- to learn to cup- to harvest more carefully and to feel more secure that if they work hard there will be economic support. It has also given their children an exciting reason to stay on the farm as proud coffee farmers. Who Benefits From This Project? The Cup of Excellence fundamentally changes what we know is possible in an exemplary coffee. This benefits the entire coffee chain because it engages the consumer in a discussion centered on the joy of quality coffee. Often these award-winning coffees are so good that consumers expectations of what a coffee can taste like are definitely exceeded. Many roasters and importers have relied on the COE results to find the high quality farmers their businesses depend on and have found a new demographic of customers who apprecaite quality and are willing to pay for it. Cup of Excellence is an important variable in the Direct Trade movement. The benefit to the winning farmer is obvious but the entire region benefits from the recognition as buyers visit all of the surrounding farms as well. The payment to the coffee farmers for their coffee is more than Fair. The vast majority of the auction proceeds go to the farmer, the rest to the organinzing committee. ACE does not make money on the auctions. There is no other program that is as
exciting for the coffee lover, the roasters and especially the farmers whose monetary reward often changes the lives of their entire family and the rural communities where they live. Cup of Excellence builds international relationships and cooperation in many forms. Cooperation is the key to success, appreciation is the mantra and friendships and lasting partnerships are critical. It is one of the few programs that puts its main focus on individual empowerment, training and education with no consideration of gender or economic status. How Can I Help? Become a member of Alliance for Coffee Excellence. Register on line. Sign up for samples, join a jury, or simply support ACE with your membership. A small fee to support a global non-profit organization making a difference. An ACE membership with samples and auctions gives the international coffee community the opportunity to bid for awardwinning coffees which in turn provides the support to farmers ensuring quality for the future. Visit www.cupofexcellence.org to view membership benefits. Support your local roaster. Look for and buy Cup of Excellence roasted coffees from your favorite cafes and roastery worldwide. Most importantly, brew and drink COE Coffees and reflect on the farmers who make it possible for ACE to change the world of coffee. Thank you for your kind consideration.
Honduras COE 2012 International Jury
The Coffee Land Trust
The Coffeelands World Gifts Espresso Café
Benefiting the Coffeelands Trust & The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Theresa E. Kane, Ph.D. www.poluscenter.org, www.worldgiftscafe.org Various Coffee Growing Countries tkane@poluscenter.org 978-368-1550
Project Description The Coffeelands World Gifts Espresso Café is a social enterprise that provides support for coffee growers and their families in origin countries around the world. The Café is a project of the Polus Center, a non-profit founded in 1979 to provide social opportunities for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. In 1998, the Polus Center began community-based humanitarian work, primarily for victims of landmines and explosive remnants of war. In 2005 the Polus Center established the Coffeelands Trust, a fund supporting survivors of conflict in coffee growing regions. These funds provide rehabilitation services such as artifical limbs and physical therapy, as well as small business grants that help people get back to work producing quality coffee for the world to enjoy. For the last several years, donations have been 100% matched by a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.
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In addition to excellent specialty drinks, the Coffeelands Café sells unique handicrafts made by landmine victims and people living in coffee regions, providing an alternative source of income that helps address hunger issues during the thin months. The fully accessible Café provides employment and training opportunities for a small number of people with developmental disabilities. Products are made by people in the coffeelands who have received small business grants, or are bought through distributors who have confirmed use of sustainable fair labor practices. Proceeds and donations received at the Café are used to support the Coffeelands Trust.
- Through meaningful work opportunities, employees who have disabilities enjoy social inclusion instead of isolation and are developing valuable marketable skills. People with disabilities working side-by-side with people without disabilities in an integrated setting promotes valued social roles for vulnerable groups, creating a more inclusive society. Community life is strengthened by including all of its citizens.
Who Benefits From This Project? - People living in coffee growing communities who are addressing the aftermath of conflict. Landmines and other deadly munitions do not distinguish between the footsteps of a soldier, farmer, woman, or child. The Coffeelands Trust supports not only for the person who stepped on an explosive and suffered physical or psychological harm, but also for their families and communities who have been affected. - Buying unique handicrafts expands marketing opportunities and provides an alternative source of income for people living in coffee communities, addressing the issues of cyclical food insecurity and poverty. Coffee growers in origin countries benefit through fair trade practices of our roaster, Dean’s Beans. - The beautiful newly renovated Café occupies a formerly distressed storefront, which is now a vibrant center of community activity.
How Can I Help? Donations to the Coffeelands Trust go directly to coffee growing regions, and may be doubled through matching grants from the Department of State. Equipment and product donations are always welcome. The Café is especially grateful to Boyer’s Coffee, who donated our espresso machine and grinders. Company leaders who work directly with coffee growing communities are encouraged to contact us to help us spread the word to artisans who might be interested in selling products through our community-based and online stores.
Fair Trade USA
Co-Op Link Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Jenna Larson www.FairTradeUSA.org Various Coffee Growing Countries jlarson@fairtradeusa.org 510-844-1668
Project Description Community development plays a critical role in Fair Trade USA’s efforts to maximize the benefits of Fair Trade for producers and help build sustainable futures for farming communities around the world. Since 2006, Fair Trade USA and our partners have directly invested over $7.4 million in programs to help farmers improve quality, increase productivity, improve access to capital, and become stronger business partners. Building on the success of these programs and feedback from partners and producers, Fair Trade USA has evolved its approach to development by creating innovative new partnerships with global financial institutions, industry partners, NGO’s, leading social entrepreneurs and in-country service providers. This new effort, called ‘Co-op Link’, builds on the unique role Fair Trade USA plays in linking organizations from all areas of the supply chain to maximize impact for producers. To develop the program, Fair Trade USA surveyed farmers to better understand their most pressing needs. The noted areas were: • Increased market opportunity • Improved access to capital • Expanded range of trainings • Quality improvement initiatives Fair Trade USA then worked with NGO’s and local service providers to execute the programs to meet the indicated needs, and in 2011 alone Fair Trade USA raised $2 million for producer programs. In addition, Fair Trade USA helped facilitate $3 million in affordable trade finance loans to cooperatives.
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management, and market linkage services to connect them to potential buyers in the United States.
Who Benefits From This Project? Co-op Link is an effort to strengthen small-scale farming organizations by providing cooperatives across multiple product categories with increased market opportunity in North America, improved access to capital and an expanded range of capacity building and quality improvement initiatives. Here are some highlights from past and present Co-op Link projects to strengthen coffee-growning communities around the world: Cooperative 101 Trainings in Rwanda $1.3 million This comprehensive 3-year program, in partnership with CoffeeRwanda, developed robust accounting practices, assisted in tracking production and sales information, initiated a women’s empowerment program and supported the creation of development tools for more.
Rebuilding Indonesian Coffee - $175,000 With funding from the Robobank Foundation and the Progreso Fund, Fair Trade USA is working with 8 middle to upper tier coffee cooperatives to provide emergency capacity building, technical assistance and to improve quality and efficiency. This project will help set Indonesian cooperatives up for success as coffee from the region continues to grow in popularity. How Can I Help? To deepen the impact of Fair Trade community development efforts, Fair Trade USA is engaging with leading social entrepreneurs and innovative development organizations to bring new approaches and sustainable solutions to Fair Trade communities.
Kenyan Coffee Project - $30,000 The Grassroots Business Fund partnered with Fair Trade USA to provide Kenyan cooperatives with services in the following areas: capacity building and training, including certification and business management and cooperative governance and management, and market linkage services to connect cooperatives with services in the following areas: capacity building and training, including certification and business management and cooperative governance and
Fair Trade USA is eager to partner with additional NGOs, funders and development consultants that share our mission to strengthen farming communities around the world. If your organization would like to join our Co-Op Link initiative, please e-mail us at info@FairTradeUSA.org
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Grounds for Health
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Justin Mool www.auction.groundsforhealth.org Central America, Tanzania justin@groundsforhealth.org 802-241-4146
Project Description Green coffee: who knew such a little bean could have such a huge impact? Now in its fourth year, the annual Grounds for Health Green Coffee Auction raised $100,100 to help prevent cervical cancer in coffeegrowing communities. Forty-four coffee importers and producers from around the globe donated bags of green coffee and three companies donated equipment, all of which which was then auctioned off during an online event on June 5-6. Grounds for Health has been establishing community-driven, locally sustainable programs to prevent cervical cancer in rural coffee-growing areas since 1996. Over the past 16 years, Grounds for Health programs have been responsible for screening more than 34,000 women for this deadly, yet preventable, disease. As Grounds for Health’s largest fundraiser, the coffee auction is essential to ensuring women in rural regions of coffee-growing countries continue to receive the preventive care that could save their lives. “As a farmer, I feel very connected to other coffee regions around the globe,” remarks Suzanne Shriner of Lions Gate Farms, who has donated coffee since 2011. “I see the challenges of health care in rural areas even here in the Kona region. The work that Grounds for Health does in the coffee community helps more than just families. It helps all of us in the coffee world who
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Coffee with a Cause: Annual Green Coffee Auction
depend on farmers for our livelihood. I am proud to be a Grounds for Health supporter.” Donations are just part of the puzzle. The success of the auction is dependent on the participation of everyday coffee roasters and retailers who bid and win the coffee. After the auction, they have a chance to take their winnings and create a promotional campaign to raise even more funds for Grounds for Health and become recognized donors. David Borton of BoldJava, who sells green coffee to home-roasters, used his winnings to create a pledge drive among his customers.
Many families also lose their main means of economic support as more and more households are headed by women, and communities lose seasoned community leaders. And, of course, the coffee industry loses productive workers. Saving women’s lives from this preventable disease has far reaching impact. How Can I Help? If you are a coffee importer or producer, plan on donating green coffee to next year’s auction, which will take place in June 2013. To pledge a donation for the 2013 Grounds for Health Coffee auction, email: auction@groundsforhealth.org.
“My whole effort is to raise the consciousness, the awareness within the home-roaster coffee community,” Borton said. “We are drinking great coffees ‘on the backs’ of other people. Let’s do something about that bit-by-bit so they can be more self-determinative. Education and awareness are the critical keys. Grounds for Health is building the momentum.”
If you are a roaster or retailer, you can hold a Grounds for Health coffee promotion at any time. Visit: http://auction.groundsforhealth.org/ promos for more information. Remember to work the 2013 auction into your buying schedule; contact auction@groundsforhealth.org to be added to our bidder registration list.
Who Benefits From This Project? Grounds for Health’s programs benefit women in coffee, their families and their communities. Cervical cancer affects women in the prime of life, ages 40-50s—earlier than most other cancers. In many countries, such as Nicaragua, it is the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age, surpassing maternal mortality figures. When a mother dies, it impacts the health and well being of her whole family and the entire community. Children who lose a mother are more likely to die in infancy, to be malnourished, receive less emotional care and leave school sooner. Their future is compromised.
Learn more about Grounds for Health by visiting www.groundsforhealth.org or following us on Facebook (facebook.com/groundsforhealth) and Twitter (@grounds4health).
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Coffee Quality Institute
Coffee Corps Wants You! New Database Online Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Joan Uphoff www.coffeeinstitute.org Various Coffee Growing Countries juphoff@coffeeinstitute.org 562-624-4190
Project Description The Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) is an international non-profit organization with an intimate understanding of coffee industry needs and years of experience in the development of efficient coffee market linkages, technical assistance, market development, and capacity building in developing countries. Our technical assistance, business solutions and innovative approaches to economic sustainability allow coffee producers to not only improve their income today but to make investments for the future and the future of their communities. CQI’s Coffee Corps™ Volunteer Program, established in 2003, provides training and technical assistance to small-tomedium sized producers by matching coffee-industry experts with farmers and associations at origin. These highly skilled professionals are willing to donate their time and expertise to provide training aimed at improving the quality of coffee as well as the lives of the people who produce it. These volunteers help growers improve their production and processing methods, and train roasters, packagers, exporters, baristas and café owners about quality control processes and marketing.
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The mission of the Coffee Corps is to enhance the livelihoods of coffee farmers, workers and entrepreneurs in developing countries and to help ensure a reliable supply of quality coffee products for the world. The Coffee Corps brand and logo is a trademark of the Coffee Quality Institute.
assessment, roasting, processing, quality control, marketing, barista skills, coffee lab development as well agronomic and environmental issues. Coffee Corps volunteers have worked in most of the coffee producing countries in Central and South America, Indonesia and East Africa.
NEW APPLICATION: A new Coffee Corps database has been developed and all new and current volunteers are required to complete a new application to stay active in the program. The application is available under Coffee Corps on the CQI website www. coffeeinstitute.org.
How Can I Help? The Coffee Quality Institute and Coffee Corps do not provide direct financing for any projects. Our activities and project schedules are determined not only by need, but funding sources and opportunities. The strength of our program is the caliber and determination of our volunteers and their willingness to provide significant professional training and consultation. For more information please visit www.coffeeinstitute.org.
Coffee Corps volunteers are deployed to origin to help address locally identified needs in a variety of ways, including professional training in the following areas: coffee cupping and quality
Judges Raul & Pete with Zambia Team
The Coffee Trust
The Kukuy Education Project Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Bill Fishbein www.thecoffeetrust.org Guatemala bill@thecoffeetrust.org 505-670-9783
Project Description It is widely recognized that educating women is one of the major keys to ending poverty at origin. Educated women tend to marry later in life and to have less children later in life. Where poorly educated women are often tethered to their homes and have little control over their own lives, educated women have a strong voice in their homes, and they demonstrate leadership skills in their communities. Yet, at origin, all too often young girls rarely are afforded any education opportunities at all. The Kukuy Education Project provides scholarships to indigenous girls to attend middle school and high school in their home towns. Students are supported by an indigenous mentor who acts as an academic tutor, an advocate in the schools, and an advocate in the home, where students often must confront alcoholism, violence and abuse. In addition to academics, the mentor teaches life skills to the girls, including nutrition, health care, sanitation and reproducitve health. And, the mentor follows each girl’s progress in school ensuring that weaknesses are addressed and that she ultimately graduates high school. For those girls who qualify, every effort is made to gain access to outside scholarships and to take advantage of university scholarships to continue toward a university degree. The Kukuy Education Project is located in the Ixil region of Guatemala in San Gaspar Chajul and San Juan Cotzal. It is one of the poorest coffee-producing regions in the world. There is little access to health care resulting in an extremely high infant and maternal death rate. Food is scarce after the coffee harvest. And, most Ixil children do not attend school past the second grade. The most common explanation for this is that there is no food at school for the children. Isolated from European influence until the beginning of the 20th century, the Ixil region has been overwhelmed by the 36-year
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3 scholarship students in San Gaspar Chajul
Guatemala civil war and the onslaught of cash cropping that has disconnected this deeply indigenous people from their roots, through which they survived the centuries on subsistence farming. Today, the countyside is blanketed with coffee plants and other agricultural commodities with precious little land left for families to grow their own food. The Kukuy (Firefiles in Ixil) Education Projects ensures that young Ixil girls who complete the 6th grade are given the opportunity to attend the 7th grade until they graduate high school. Qualified graduates have access to higher education. There is an added benefit. The Coffee Trust does not just work in one dimension in the Ixil region. The Coffee Trust supports, health care, food security and economic development in the region as well. This means educated young women will have other opportunities to employ their skills by participating in, or working for, our microcredit program, our medicinal herbs and traditional medicines program, or our food security program. Who Benefits From This Project? The Ixil people are an ancient indigenous people, deeply connected to their Mayan roots. Currently 30 young girls are benefiting from the program that is on track to support at least 100 students over the next several years and at least 100 students every year afterwards as well. In addition, the families of each of these girls also benefit from the program. Herein lies the hidden benefit. In 5 years, there will be at least 100 hundred families who will have been involved in, and committed to the program. And, because each girl is supported for 6 years, each family is committed for 6 years. In the deeply impoverished Ixil region of Guatemala, a region devastated by war and trampled by a world economy, at least 100 families will be committed to the development of their community not
A Working Group in San Juan Cotzal
The San Juan Cotzal Scholarship Group
only through education, but also through health care, food security and economic development projects supported through The Coffee Trust. The reverberations from these 100 committed families will be felt each year throughout the Ixil region encouraging thousands to look at education as a means toward overcoming the devastating poverty that characterizes the coffee-producing Ixil region of Guatemala. How Can I Help? As the Kukuy Education Program grows, we expect the financial need to exceed $ 100,000 every year. A $ 350 scholarship contribution along with your 3 year commitment would ensure that a young Ixil girl could attend the first 3 years of middle school. A $550 contribution along with your 3-year commitment would ensure that a young Ixil girl would attend the last 3 years of high school and possibly become a candidate to go on to the university. (It will be 2 more years before high school scholarships become available.) A contribution of any amount will help pay the salaries of the mentors as well as pay for the transportation and supplies that the mentors need to tutor and train the young girls and their families.
A Kukuy Group at work
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Hemisphere Coffee Roasters
Farm Kitchen Upgrade Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Paul Kurtz www.hemispherecoffeeroasters.com Nicaragua kurtzpaul@hotmail.com 937-834-3230 with the 90-plus families that live on and near his farm, to grow corn and beans. The Chavarrias provide the land and seed, while the workers plant and care for the crops. At harvest the workers keep a major portion of the crops to sell and benefit directly from their labor.
The Farm Kitchen Project Description Many projects and causes are “macro” in nature in that they are a series of complicated steps and processes to implement the change desired. Here is a very simple project with immediate results worthy of your consideration. Hemisphere Coffee Roasters has been working with Diego and Leslie Chavarria, outside of Matagalpa, Nicaragua for the past six years. Through this direct-trade partnership many improvements in the lives of the growers and immediate community have been observed. A premium of .75 to $1.00 over commodity has been paid to these farmers for 2-3 containers each year. This has enabled the farmer to pay better wages, improve the farm benefits (housing, food), provide education for the children and sponsor a network of pastors and development initiatives. One such initiative is to utilize the low land on the farm in a crop share arrangement
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This farm, located 19 kilometers out of El Tuma in the Guapitol region (Nicaragua) grows exceptional high quality, shade-grown coffee. This coffee has intense lemony notes and an awesome chocolate finish. The plantations are well cared for and while not certified organic, it is grown in a natural state. While Diego and Leslie are a conduit of blessing to their entire community, they still are recovering from the devestation of the many years of low coffee prices. Every building needs repair, Many of the tin roofs have patches. Piping and machinery need overhauled and upgraded. In the midst of this busy, working farm stands a small wooden building, referred to as farm kitchen. Most days this shack has smoke billowing from its open vents in the roof and the workers come to the doorway for fresh air. The Chavarrias have plans to tear this kitchen down and replace it with a fully ventelated block structure. Because of Hemisphere Coffee Roasters commitment and partnership with this family we are working to raise the funds needed ($12,000. USD) to do it sooner than later. Who Benefits From This Project? Over 250 workers are fed three meals a day out of this kitchen. Beginning around four o’clock AM each morning a staff of four workers begin the work of preparing the vast amounts of food. Four separate fires are lit, over 800 tortillas are fried, 100 pounds of beans and three huge kettles of rice are cooked. The conditions in this kitchen are extremly unhealthy and are deteriating the health of these workers. The direct benefactors of a new kitchen are the four to five workers and their children
that come and go from this building. Additionally all 250 farm workers benefit from more sanitary enviroment for the food service on the farm.
Diego with first shipment of 2012
The new farm kitchen will also include gas burners to suppliment the wood fuel. Plans call for along the outside rear of the building will be laundry tubs and sinks to allow the workers to do laundry and clean up in this area and stay out of the streams and water pools. How Can I Help? Your help in cash donations is most needed to fund this project. This project is being hosted on indiegogo.com. If you are interested in helping out you can go to that site, search for Café Diego and make your donation. You can also go to Youtube and search for Café Diego and watch a short clip on this project. Or call or email us and we would be glad to give you more direct contact with this great coffee and the growers. Hemisphere Coffee Roasters can send you supporting material for your café or shop to allow your customers to directly participate.
Chavarria Farm Gate
Child Aid
Brewing a Difference Through Literacy Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Danny Palmerlee www.child-aid.org Guatemala danny@child-aid.org 503-223-3008
Project Description Ernesto lives in the coffee producing community of Pasaq, Guatemala. Both his parents are illiterate. When he entered kindergarten, he had never been read to, never held a book in his life and had no early-childhood literacy skills. At five years old, he walked into a neglected rural classroom that was nearly empty of books. His teacher had almost no experience in teaching children to read. The odds he would make it to sixth grade, or even learn to read, were slim. That all changed for Ernesto when Child Aid brought its Brewing a Difference through Literacy program to his village. Now, like the other 125 children in Pasaq, he has the hope of a brighter future. Two years into the program, he can read exceptionally well, and he has access to hundreds of high quality children’s books. The challenges Ernesto faces are typical for children in Guatemala’s coffee regions. The country that produces some of the world’s finest coffee is also home to extreme poverty and the lowest literacy rate in all of Latin America. More than 50 percent of the country’s indigenous children never make it through primary school, and only 24
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percent finish middle school. Lacking the ability to read or write, these children face an almost impenetrable barrier to rising above poverty. Brewing a Difference helps thousands of children in seven coffee communities improve their lives through education. Through the program, Child Aid provides desperately needed training, resources and educational materials to teachers in schools that have all but been abandoned. It creates and improves community libraries and brings thousands of books to rural classrooms. And it helps teachers create programs that inspire children to read and learn. Child Aid created Brewing a Difference in order to link coffee companies around the world with the organization’s literacy initiatives in Guatemalan coffee communities. It is our goal is to create educational opportunity for thousands more children like Ernesto, while giving coffee companies a unique and effective way to give back to the towns and villages that produce such excellent coffee. Who Benefits From This Project? Brewing a Difference Through Literacy currently serves nearly 3,000 children in seven remote coffee producing communities in Guatemala’s Central Highlands: Pasaq, Palá, Xojolá, Yepocapa, Chicacao, Yoxojá, and Tzanchaj. All but one of these are indigenous Mayan communities, and all lack educational infrastructre and resources. The project also helps undertrained teachers in more than 100 rural classrooms get advanced, ongoing literacy training so they can more effectively teach at-risk children to read.
How Can I Help? Your company can sponsor and specific village through our Brewing a Difference program. Whether through a grant, matching gift or ongoing proceeds from coffee sales, your support will help hundreds of children overcome illiteracy. We’ll provide the stories, photographs, blogs and other materials you need to let your customers know about the impact of your sponsorship. As an individual, you can donate or volunteer with Child Aid. We depend on our supporters to fund book distributions, daily reading programs, teacher trainings and library improvements. The result is educational opportunity for children in remote coffee growing communities. Visit www.child-aid.org to learn about our overall literacy work, and call us at 503-223-3008 to discuss ways get involved through Brewing a Difference. Thank you.
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Finca Rosablanca
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Glenn Jampol www.fincarosablanca.com/?page=coffee/coffee&language=eng Costa Rica info@FincaRosaBlanca.com +506-2269-9392
Project Description Finca Rosa Blanca has 30 acres of hard bean coffee which is certified organic by the BCS OKO Garantie, an international organic agriculture certification and is certified sustainable by Rain Forest Alliance and ICAFE, the Costa Rican National Organization for Coffee. The Coffee Plantations: We have planted over 5,000 native trees on our coffee plantations with the help of the environmental protection agency (MINAET) and local school children. These native trees produce shade and nitrogen for our organic coffee and have created biological corridors for the birds and animals of the area. The coffee is planted following the natural topography of the farm to avoid erosion and water waste and is protected by living fences planted with native shrubs and trees.
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Sustainable Organic Coffee Farming and Coffee Tour
We encourage our guests to join us on a tour of our plantation where they will learn how organic coffee is grown, harvested, dried and processed. In addition to roasting and packing their own coffee, our guests participate in a “catación” or a coffee tasting, learning how the professionals determine quality and taste including participating in the picking of coffee during our harvest Season (Oct- Jan.) We then take the client through the processing of coffee, including cleaning the berries and drying them, ending with roasting your own coffee in our roasting and packing house. Vital Habitat for Migrants About 200 different species of birds are known as neo tropical migrants, breeding in the habitat and backyards of North America and migrating south to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean islands for the winter. There, the multi-layered vegetation of shade-grown coffee plantations provides abundant food and cover. In many areas, coffee farms offer the only good habitat amid deforested pastures and stark monocultures.
We use no agrochemicals, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides on the farm preferring to apply the rich compost from our vermiculture (worm beds) and from the composting of organic refuse at the hotel and we apply only natural remedies for the fungus and pests which often plague coffee.
The migrants pack into the farms every fall, feasting on insects and fruits and often changing their feeding and flocking behavior considerably from that familiar to birders in the north. Some of them stop and stay put, often on the same farm as the year before; others linger and then move on, farther south. Both songbirds and birds of prey make the twice-yearly migration; some arrive after journeys of thousands of miles and open-ocean flights.
The Coffee Tour: The guests learn how the experts discern and rate gourmet coffee by participating in a “coffee cupping” (catación) session with our knowledgeable Barista and Coffee Tour Guide. Sit out on the spacious deck and enjoy the views of the volcanoes above and coffee fields below while sipping your cappuccino, enjoying fresh Rosa Blanca pastries and learning more about the benefits to the environment and the community of an organic sustainable coffee farm. This tour plus the cupping session lasts 2 hours.
Who Benefits From This Project? How can we coffee lovers know if the beans we drink come from farms that are environmentally friendly and socially responsible? How can we reward farmers that are trying to grow a great tasting coffee while protecting wildlife and the environment? Credible labels such as Rainforest Alliance Certified, guarantee that farms are on the path toward true sustainability, and qualified organic labels guarantee that farms are not using harmful pesticides and fertilizers.
Recycling drums
Many, perhaps most, smallholders are organic farmers by tradition, in part because they could never afford to purchase agrochemicals. With the downturn of prices paid to farmers in recent years, pesticides and fertilizers are out of their reach. With organic farming techniques - some learned from their
Chorreadas in market
grandparents and some from modern agronomy - coffee producers can maintain production and conserve healthy soils, which are their primary inheritance Manolo in greenhouse and asset. A sustainable farm management system is based on a holistic view of agriculture that includes conservation of natural resources, rights and benefits for farm workers, equitable trading, and the farm’s relationship with nearby natural and human communities. Savoring a cup of certified sustainable coffee can improve livelihoods for farm families and conserve wildlife and tropical ecosystems - a rare “win-win” opportunity. So the next time you see a Baltimore Oriole, Sharp-shinned Hawk or other Neotropic migrant, raise a mug of shade-grown joe and celebrate the at-home contribution you’ve made to their survival. How Can I Help? Finca Rosa Blanca donates 5% of its net income from the bar and restaurant to use as sources of funding for projects in the community; These projects are based on the need of the community, efforts in conservation and water protection, a soup kitchen for the schoolchildren whose parents do not have the financial means to provide them with a healthy lunch, school programs on recycling, organic gardening, and being a good citizen. All of these projects are important to the positive evolution of the local community in which we are located. Any contributions of cash will be used to further enhance these already functioning programs and to create some new ones, like a community recycling center, purchasing land for a sustainable meeting hall and reforestation of decimated areas or open fields.
Picking ripe beans
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Rainforest Alliance
Training and Certification Programs for Better Farm Management in Ethiopia
Contact Name: Alex Morgan Web Site: www.rainforest-alliance.org Location: Various Coffee Growing Countries Email Address: amorgan@ra.org Phone Number: 212- 677-1900 Project Description Production of high quality coffees in Ethiopia is expanding as a result of optimal climate, elevation, and soil quality. The Rainforest Alliance is working with farmers in Ethiopia to grow the demand for these coffees on the international market and ensure that the industry develops in a sustainable manner, taking into account the importance of fragile ecosystems, high conservation value forests, and local communities. Since 2005, the Rainforest Alliance has been working in collaboration with farmers in the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) and since 2007 with farmers in the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU) and Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) in order to attain more effective social and environmental management systems. Through implementation of the rigorous standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), several cooperatives within SCFCU, YCFCU, and OCFCU have made required changes to improve working conditions for their workers, manage waste and water more efficiently, and conserve natural resources. Environmental committees have been appointed at each cooperative to ensure the achievement of specific program objectives, such as proper management of solid and liquid waste from coffee processing. Coffee pulp from the wet mills is now managed through a compost program, which creates a valuable organic fertilizer that can be recycled back into the farm. In addition, waste from the wet mill processing travels by
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Wotona Bultuma Coop, part of Sidama Coffee Union (SCFCU): Group farmer training session with Rainforest Alliance staff/auditor.
by Maya Albanese
gravity to ponds where it either evaporates or is treated naturally using an Effective Microorganism (EM) system. Each of the programs being implemented through the SAN standard at SCFCU, YCFCU and OCFCU have proven to be successful methods in fostering better social and environmental stewardship at the farm level. Who Benefits From This Project? As a result of the Rainforest Alliance’s training and technical assistance programs, farmers in isolated areas of Ethiopia are seeing economic, social, and environmental benefits. First, the farmers are gaining better access to international markets through certification, which gives them a clear way to communicate their continual improvements in farm management practices to the consumer at the other end of the value chain. In addition, Rainforest Alliance Certified™ coffees from SCFCU and YCFCU were internationally recognized as top scorers at the 2012 Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality in New York City. Next, temporary mill workers are now receiving higher wages and union member farmers are receiving bonus payments based on the quantity of red cherry they deliver to market. Finally, the farmers now have an incentive to conserve their forests, because intercropping the coffee plants with trees makes for higher quality shade-grown coffee, prevents soil erosion, conserves biodiversity, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions - twenty percent of which result from global deforestation. How Can I Help? • Coffee companies can contact the Rainforest Alliance and/or SCFCU, YCFCU and OCFCU
Wotona Bultuma Coop, part of Sidama Coffee Union (SCFCU): Lagoon with Effective Microorganism treated water and with the coffee washing stations in the background.
Sidama Coffee Union: pile of coffee pulp compost to be taken back to coffee plants and used as fertilizer through an integrated waste management system required by certification.
directly to ask for supply of Rainforest Alliance Certified coffees. • Coffee companies have the opportunity to support the Rainforest Alliance training program to build further certification capacity in Ethiopia and contribute to improved farmer livelihoods, conservation and reforestation efforts. • Retailers can encourage their suppliers to purchase beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified sustainable coffee producers that show a commitment to effective social and environmental management systems like those of SCFCU, YCFCU and OCFCU. • Consumers can choose to buy sustainable coffee with the Rainforest Alliance Certified frog seal, rewarding groups of small producers like SCFCU, YCFCU and OCFCU for their hard work in adopting environmentally and socially responsible practices.
Killenso Mookoonsa Coop, part of Oromia Coffee Union (OCFCU): Group of coffee farmers under banana trees intercropped with coffee plants as part of reforestation efforts and to grow a higher quality shade-grown coffee.
Food 4 Farmers
SOPPEXCCA: Partnering for Long-Term Food Security
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Janice Nadworny www.food4farmers.org Nicaragua janice@food4farmers.org 802-238-8207
Project Description Seasonal hunger is a crisis that affects coffeefarming families around the world. Food 4 Farmers was formed in 2010 to help these families put nutritious food on their tables every day, and help them build a better quality of life for themselves and their communities. Last summer, Fatima Ismael, general manager of 670-member Nicaraguan co-operative SOPPEXCCA, contacted us to ask if we would help build a long-term food security plan for the co-op. Her goal was to have a 5-year food security and food sovereignty action plan. Food sovereignty, defined by the 2002 World Food Summit is “the right of peoples, communities, and countries to define their own agricultural, labour, fishing, food and land policies which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances.” Fatima’s strategic approach fit perfectly with our mission and approach. Many coffee farmers come from an old pattern of being locked in a cycle of not producing their own food. The reasons for this are complex and valid - ranging from the high cost of food production to lack of enough land - and point to the need for strategic, coherent planning that brings holistic, long-term
solutions to this difficult, ingrained problem. Though farmers identify “dependency on coffee” as a vulnerability, they don’t always make the connection between “The Thin Months” – the months each year when food is scarce, and incomes are too low to purchase food - and not producing their own food. There is a saying in Spanish --’No es lo mismo verla venir, que bailar con ella’ or, ‘It’s not the same to see her coming, as to dance with her.’ To address the issue of seasonal hunger, our Food 4 Farmers staff and Board had brought our collective experience and skills from a broad range of field work, research, partnerships and policy development together. We had met, discussed, planned, and debated but we hadn’t yet tested our program. Last August, Program Director Marcela Pino found herself in the small offices at SOPPEXCCA with a mission: bringing the community together to build a long-term plan for food security. First, she facilitated a 2-week strategic planning process that included the whole co-op community - farmers, staff and management. Then, they all came together to review findings and vote on strategies. Throughout the process, participants expressed their support of, and engaged in, what we were shaping together. They liked the way the meetings were structured so producers had a real voice, a chance to express and discuss their opinions. We were committed to making this component part of the work, and it made a difference.
problem. We’re excited about what we’re helping our partners build, and look forward to their great success. Phase two of this project – implementing specific strategies – should begin in late 2012.
Identifying strategies
Who Benefits From This Project? The 670 farming families of SOPPEXXCA will directly benefit from growing more food locally. The co-op will benefit from managing its own strategic planning process, a comprehensive, long-term plan, and a community-appropriate, manageable monitoring & evaluation system. Funders benefit by investing in a community-owned and well integrated food security program with a long-term impact. And, coffee buyers benefit from the high quality coffee that comes from producers who enjoy a better quality of life. How Can I Help? We are interested in building collaborations to connect coffee communities with knowledge, tools, and empowerment to overcome seasonal hunger. To donate, sponsor, or partner with Food 4 Farmers contact Janice Nadworny at janice@food4farmers.org or at 802 238-8207. Or, go to www.food4farmers.org to find out more.
Community leaders stepped forward. SOPPEXCCA técnico Domingo Vargas worked with Marcela, non-stop. Domingo had attended a food security forum organized by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Community Agroecology Network (CAN), and carried the excitement about what he had learned with him throughout the project.
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Working together
Our project turned out to be incredibly rewarding. We were gratified to see farmers, co-op staff and management working together, identifying innovative, common-sense strategies to address a long-term, chronic
Marcela and families
Radio Lifeline
Coffee Lifeline Project Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Peter Kettler www.radiolifeline.org Various Coffee Growing Countries pkettler@sbcglobal.net 608-334-9173 for these broadcasts has been generously provided by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Each program covers a variety of topics, including agronomy practices, cooperative development and sustainability, environmental stewardship, early childhood and maternal health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS education, family planning and commodity market information.
Project Description The Coffee Lifeline project is a radio communications initiative that provides coffee farmers with access to vital information that can have a significant and positive impact in the lives of their families as well as within the communities in which they live. Coffee Lifeline provides access to news and informational programming through the use of unique, patented crank and solar-panel radios, providing a reliable, sustainable link to the world at large. Through a unique distribution process, these radios come to be seen as community property, a tool to be used for the common good as opposed to private gain or competitive advantage. Since 2005 Coffee Lifeline, in partnership with the USAID-funded SPREAD project and Radio Salus, a community-based radio station affiliated with the National University of Rwanda, have produced a series of 30 minute weekly broadcasts called Imbere Heza, or “Bright Future”. Funding
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The Coffee Lifeline project was founded upon the belief that access to information can be one of the most powerful aspects of any development initiative. This is especially true in coffee-producing areas that often rely on isolated groups of people working together toward a common goal, whether it be quality improvement, health initiatives, education, food security, environmental protection or cooperative development. Access to accurate, reliable and consistent sources of information is key to the success of any project. In recognition of our efforts, the Specialty Coffee Association of America awarded Coffee Lifeline its annual Sustainability Award in 2010. With an expected expansion of its activities into Kenya and Tanzania later this year, the Coffee Lifeline project will create an opportunity for farmers, exporters, coffeecentered NGO’s as well as the community radio sector itself to share information and collaborate on a wide range of issues facing the region today. Who Benefits From This Project? Currently, every stakeholder in the Rwandan coffee sector benefits from the Coffee Lifeline project. Our focus on coffee quality, cooperative development as well as a wide variety of issues that affect quality of life has resulted in the Coffee Lifeline broadcasts becoming viewed as the respected voice of Rwanda’s coffee farming community. With a projected expansion into neighboring Tanzania and Kenya, Coffee Lifeline will effectively create the world’s first coffee radio network, offering unique opportunities for
information sharing and capacity building among the various farming communities, development organizations, government agencies and community radio stations participating in the project. The coffee community of East Africa faces many of the same challenges as most of the world’s coffee producing regions increased population, competition for natural resources, climate change, food security, health care and education. Access to reliable, consistent information can help local communities decide on which strategies might best suit their individual needs. Radio is everywhere. How Can I Help? The Coffee Lifeline project can utilize your donations to help increase the range of our broadcasts and provide cooperatives with additional radios to make sure that the information is shared with even their most remote members. Please help us send a strong signal to today’s coffee farmers!
Post Office Box 237 • Bland, VA 24315 Phone: 800-762-9962 Cell: 276-613-5555 Fax: 276-688-4780 E-mail: jnewberry@vencosolutions.com www.vencosolutions.com
Cortez Coffee Company
More than Fair Cameroon Coffee Seedling Program
Contact Name: Ronald G. Cortez Web Site: www.cafecortez.com Location: Cameroon Email Address: rcortez@cafecortez.com Phone Number: 602-418-4350
Project Description After being part of this industry for more than 20 years, one comes to understand more and more the importance of making a difference for the communities involved in coffee production and of taking responsibility for sustainability and properly caring for the Earth. Even as this realization and urge to make a difference grows, answering how you make that difference often leads to murky waters of uncertainty. It becomes more and more difficult as there are many good coffee people truly working on the cutting edge of coffee business and culture. From the myriad of possible concerns, where do we start? Most of us are making a difference by roasting with more technology that will yield smoother coffees or by brewing with more and more attention to the chemical changes in coffee. The home roasting movement is growing tremendously, and the brains behind that arena are going to be coming out with really cool stuff. These advances in attention to detail help to raise awareness about the complexity of the coffee producing process and some of the issues it involved.
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We want to tell your readers of a new frontier in direct trade: the seedling program. We have signed a contract with the Ntenefor Union a tribe in Cameroon. They are going to be selling and caring for coffee plants that belong to roasters in the United States. By selling individual plants, or acres of plants, the roaster becomes more involved in the growing and processing of the coffee. This increased involvement provides a deeper understanding of what contributes to quality coffee and as well as what are some of the issues that farmers encounter along the way. This is a unique way to share the load of how are we going to secure supply in the future by partnering with the people who will make that a reality. The whole idea is not to see direct trade as a make-me-and-my-customers-feel-goodby-purchasing-a-bag-of-coffee-with-alogo but to make it a real action without the unnecessary hype and gimmicks. Through this program, you will see and meet the people who get their hands dirty with the tending of our plants. Once a year, we will get the results of that crop, and throughout the year, we will be paying for the upkeep of our plants. More Than Fair representatives in Cameroon will supervise and graphically document all the processes for tending to our coffee from seed to shipment. This will also grant us a say in how the coffee is processed. I believe that this empowerment to the farmers of this Cameroon tribe (union) will ease fears about the international price of coffee ruining they way they take care of there families. Additionally, we can rest assured that we get what we pay for and that the quality of the coffee is up to our standards. We have planted several Arabica varietals including Geisha under supervision of our own agronomist. We would like to invite others in the coffee
community to join our efforts to form true partnerships with the famers who work so hard to give the coffee we love to enjoy. Who Benefits From This Project? We benefit directly several Trival unions in Cameroon as the people that will care for the cofee and ourselves as roasters that will sell it to our customers. How Can I Help? People can help by supporting www.morethanfair.org following us in facebook (morethanfair)
New generations of coffee plants and coffee people
Your Partner for
Credible, Cost Effective, Simple Certification Fair Trade USA is a nonprofit, mission driven organization that tackles social and environmental sustainability with an innovative, entrepreneurial approach. We are the leading independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, ensuring that farmers and workers were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and improve their communities.
To learn more and join the Fair Trade USA Partner Network, please contact us at coffee@fairtradeusa.org or call us at (510) 844-1410
EVERY PURCHASE MATTERS
Quality Products. Improving Lives. Protecting the Environment.
Coffee Kids
Coffee Kids Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Carolyn Fairman www.coffeekids.org Mexico info@coffeekids.org 505-820-1443 Coffee Kids was founded in 1988 as a nonprofit development organization. Our work is not related to the production or marketing of coffee, but rather to creating sustainable alternatives to coffee that will allow farmers to continue to harvest coffee, while subsequently increasing their economic opportunities.
In the community of Nuevo Progreso, as in many other coffee-growing communities, people roast their coffee on a clay comal or griddle Project Description Coffee has always been a boom or bust crop, a volatile agricultural commodity. While prices during boom years are significantly higher than during bust years, they are deceptive. Often when prices are high, the cost of production is equally high, and farmers still do not earn what they need to survive the year without great sacrifice. Fairtrade and other premiums have helped establish better prices and provide benefits for small-scale farmers. They also provide roasters and vendors with the opportunity to pay a fair price for their coffee. Unfortunately, this alone is not enough to adequately address the problem of poverty for smallscale coffee farmers. There are, though, many efforts being made within the coffee industry to confront this problem. Yet chronic seasonal hunger, that is, hunger during the months when there is no income from coffee, remains a serious problem. If coffee farmers are to liberate themselves from the cycle of poverty, they need not only to improve their yields, coffee quality and production systems, but also to find ways to put food on the table year-round. This is where Coffee Kids comes in.
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Doña Graciela García reyes
Dedicated to helping coffee-farming families improve their lives and livelihoods, Coffee Kids supports programs in food security, economic diversification, health care, education and capacity building. When coffee-farming families have additional sources of income, they are better able to support themselves and their families. They can then continue to farm coffee knowing that a dip in international prices will not have a catastrophic effect on family income. Annually, Coffee Kids works with more than 9,000 coffee farmers and their families in more than 130 communities throughout Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and Peru. The overall impact of our 19 projects reaches more than 80,000 people. One example is organic gardening in Tabaconas, Peru. Food production in this region is scarce, and purchasing food is prohibitive in cost. Thirty families are now learning about native plants, the nutritional properties of crops and how to sell their surplus vegetables. Not only are they now able to meet their nutritional needs, but they are also earning extra income, which benefits all community members who can now purchase affordable, locally grown and organic foods.
Doña Graciela is currently president of the organization Naxii’, runs an Internet café, and makes sure that the canning operation, which is one of the organization’s biggest income generators, runs smoothly. Doña Graciela also owns a small restaurant and is currently participating in CAMPO’s food-security project where she grows 10 different types of vegetables in a greenhouse. “I’ve been growing vegetables since 2007 with the help of CAMPO,” says Doña Graciela. “We grow lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and many varieties of chilies. In my house we eat very spicy food, and thanks to this project, I don’t buy chilies or tomatoes in the market anymore. I harvested tomatoes all year round last year and had about 90 extra kilograms that I sold to family and friends. With the money I earned, I bought fertilizer for next year’s crop. “Thanks to this project I’ve learned to grow my own vegetables, make extra money and get other women to grow the vegetables that they would otherwise just buy in the market.” How Can I Help? Coffee Kids relies on cash donations to implement all of our projects. We also accept in-kind donations in the form of publicity, as well as equipment and other resources to help us meet our administrative and marketing needs.
Who Benefits From This Project? Small-scale coffee farmers grow most of the world’s coffee on plots of land that are less than five acres. It is these farmers and their families who directly benefit from the support of Coffee Kids projects. Doña Graciela García Reyes, from Oaxaca, is a long-time participant in Coffee Kidsfunded projects. She has been fighting for women’s rights in the community since 2000, when she and three other women founded Naxii’, a women’s cooperative that produces locally grown chili, peach and apple preserves.
Señora Carmen is the women’s group coordinator for our program partner APROVAT in Tabaconas, Peru. Since 2005 she has been an example of outstanding work and fierce commitment
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Pueblo a Pueblo
Organic School Gardens/Summer Camps Contact Name: Rosemary Trent Web Site: www.puebloapueblo.org Location: Guatemala Email Address: rtrent@puebloapueblo.org Phone Number: 202-302-0622
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Project Description In the rural coffee producing communities where Pueblo a Pueblo works, the children spend most of their free time working in the fields alongside their parents harvesting coffee, avocados, and other local produce for commercial enterprises. But when the harvest is over, many families struggle to survive los meses flacos, the thin months. In these small-farm communities around Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan highlands, food security and malnutrition are of grave concern. Pueblo a Pueblo’s Organic School Garden project is supporting these families by providing the essential tools and knowledge necessary to practice sustainable, small-scale food production. From the school garden, children and teachers are learning about organic gardening and taking this valuable knowledge home to their families and parents, encouraging the re-establishment of family gardening plots and self-sustaining food production at home and in their communities.
elementary schools, where the gardens complement a school lunch program for all students. Together, these programs form an integrated approach to school health and nutrition that is providing 1,152 children with gardening and nutrition education and daily nutritious meals. Through our program, elementary school children are getting their hands dirty and exploring themes like garden maintenance, composting, and nutrition alongside energetic staff from the local villages. In each of Pueblo a Pueblo’s gardens, worm compost bins, rainwater catchment systems, and other gardening technologies keep the children engaged. They are learning about cultivating, caring for, harvesting, consuming, and composting their own garden produce. This, together with a school meal, is keeping them food secure.
Pueblo a Pueblo has been working with local communities to implement the Organic School Garden Project in multiple public
In Guatemala, school teachers often have very limited teaching resources and the quality of education in rural schools is a constant struggle. The Organic School Garden Program creates an exciting outdoor learning space for teachers and students. Through hands on learning, teachers and students are able to teach lessons on subjects, ranging from math and science to art and history outside of the classroom in their Pueblo a Pueblo School Garden. Teachers receive teacher training throughout the year about topics like health, nutrition, environment, and the use of the garden as a pedagogical resource. These training workshops help build teacher skills and further ensure the sustainability of the program.
To support this effort, Pueblo a Pueblo’s summer garden camp is giving children an additional opportunity to remain engaged and well fed throughout the year. While participating in arts and crafts and learning about environmental stewardship and nutrition, children personalize their school garden space. Camp benefits also incentivize parents to send their children to the garden activities instead of out to the fields to work during the coffee harvest.
Who Benefits From This Project? Organic school gardens benefit children in coffee growing communities in the highlands of Guatemala. Although the main focus of this program is indigenous elementary school age children, the teachers, school directors, parents, and communities whose daily activities involve the growth and harvest of coffee also benefit from the school garden project. The project is having a direct impact on 1,500
indigenous children whose families depend upon the coffee trade for their livelihoods. An additional 1,500 will benefit indirectly through teacher training programs at their schools. In the coming year, Pueblo a Pueblo will expand the Organic School Garden Project and teacher training, providing new coffee communities with the tools they need to enable future generations to be healthy and food secure. How Can I Help? For more information about Pueblo a Pueblo’s projects or to make an online donation, please visit our website at www.puebloapueblo. org. As the project grows to more schools, we will need resources, in particular, to fund school lunches for more children. Pueblo a Pueblo also wants to fund scholarships to enable qualified children to complete elementary school and receive the benefits of our comprehensive food security and nutrition projects. If you’re a business, promote Pueblo a Pueblo through co-branded products, or donate a portion of your sales.
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Fara Foundation/Fara Coffee
Fara Foundation Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Maria Farahani www.farafoundation.org Nicaragua maria@farafoundation.org 866-877-2233
Project Description Fara Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit promoting cervical cancer prevention and treatment in Nicaragua, is an affair of the heart for Maria and Manny Farahani. The owners of Fara Coffee, a direct-trade gourmet coffee produced in Nicaragua and craft-roasted in Austin, view the cultivation of shade-grown, hand-picked Arabica beans as more than a family tradition -- particularly Maria, a fourth-generation coffee farmer from Matagalpa, northern Nicaragua. As Fara Coffee has become a national brand in the United States, Maria and Manny have used their resources to start Fara Foundation, launched in 2010 to bridge resources and needs between the U.S. and Nicaragua. And we’ve grown fast: Over the past three years, Fara Foundation evolved from a conversation among concerned friends into a state-of-the-art health clinic, our own Clinica Fara, which provides virtually free dental and medical care. With a staff of 12, our clinic treats more than 50 underserved patients daily and has become
Henry and his family are receiving assistance from Fara Foundation while he struggles to find a fulltime job. Henry has been unemployed for months, but still finds time to work (free of charge) for his church.
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Fara Foundation co-founder Maria Farahani checking out the gardens and orchards at the retirement home her organization supports in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The residence is virtually self-sustaining, rearing chickens, hogs and sheep, plus all sorts of fruits and vegetables.
a regional center for the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer, the leading killer of Nicaraguan women over 30. Fara Foundation also has three basic-care aid programs: Food Assistance, Education, and Elder Care. As we’ve expanded, so have our reputation and services. By August of 2012, we will have conducted five intensive medical missions, bringing cleft palate and varicose vein specialists to Matagalpa. Varicose vein disease is pervasive among impoverished laborers throughout the region -- hard-working people whose lack of access to medical care can result in severe ulceration and infection of the lower legs, amputation, even death. And we’re thrilled to say that Fara Foundation’s focus on cervical cancer is making a clear impact in northern Nicaragua: Since early 2012, Clinica Fara has become the referral hub for four regional health clinics, as well as the Matagalpa Regional Hospital. Clinica Fara is the only facility in the region that can treat in situ cervical cancer with both LEEP procedure and Cryotherapy. Our outreach programs, coordinated by the clinic’s on-staff social workers, canvas the countryside weekly, meeting with female coffee workers to educate them to the threat of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that leads to cervical cancer. We know that cervical cancer is preventable and we believe that, with education and better availability of health care, the epidemic in Nicaragua can be stopped. Who Benefits From This Project? Fara Foundation’s programs target the underserved in northern Nicaragua, the heart of coffee-growing country. We have four branches of assistance: Clinica Fara (Health Care/Cervical Cancer Prevention), Food Assistance, Education and Elder Care. Health care programming is conducted through our Clinica Fara, based in Matagalpa city and treating more than 50 patients per day; for the poorest, our fee for any service, medical or dental, is approximately $1.25. Each month, our
A patient at Clinica Fara in Matagalpa gets great news -- a clean bill of health. She is one of many women encouraged by our outreach staff each month to have regular pap-smears and HPV testing.
Patients sign in at our Clinica Fara in Matagalapa. For the poorest, our services are $1.25 per visit. gyno-urologist and her RN see upwards of 100 women who are seeking cervical cancer treatment or early testing for HPV. Our Education programs provide elementary schooling for 35 to 45 students on Fara Coffee’s Finca Santa Rita; we also support regional public schools, fulfilling wish lists (books, athletic equipment, basketball courts, musical instruments, lunches), and we help underwrite Spain-based nonprofit Infancia Sin Fronteras, which feeds and educates 15,000 students daily. Through our Elder Care program, we underwrite 40 percent of the monthly budget for the Hogar de Ancianos San Francisco de Asis, overseen by four nuns from the Order of Santa Anita. And finally, our Food Assistance ensures that 50 of the neediest families in the region have basic provisions each month, including sugar, beans, maize and flour. How Can I Help? We accept financial and in-kind donations. We welcome volunteer services from doctors and nurses around the globe and host regular medical missions in northern Nicaragua. We can always use medical supplies and equipment, construction materials (we often help repair infrastructure in the region) and experts representing any of our four assistance divisions: Food, Elder Care, Education and Health Care/Cervical Cancer Prevention. We also hope you will visit our website, www.farafoundation.org or www.fundacionfara.org. And “like” us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/farafoundation
Abuela Nicolasa, pictured here with her grandchildren, is one of Fara Foundation’s Food Assistance recipients.
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Basic Health International
Transportable Gynecological Bed Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Lauren Ditzian/Dr. Miriam Cremer www.basichealth.org Latin America, Caribbean lditzian@basichealth.org 212-241-0733
Project Description Imagine painting a 5-story building without a ladder, or harvesting coffee without a container to store the beans? This is the situation that many health care providers find themselves in when administering cervical cancer screening in remote and rural areas. Health care providers often travel long distances to provide life-saving cervical cancer screening and treatment to rural areas that do not have health clinics or gynecologic examination tables. Women have to be examined on desks, tables, hard floors or low mattresses in community rooms or private homes. These non-traditional facilities are often poorly lit and uncomfortable for women. In addition, to treat pre-cancerous cervical lesions, cryotherapy (freezing) of the cervix is employed. This requires providers to lug the gas tanks that weigh approximately 25 lbs each. These tanks are awkward and difficult to grasp because of their cylindrical shape and lack of a handle. As a result, providers either roll the gear on a dolly-like structure, or bear the weight on their own heads--all of which prove unfeasible in remote, mountainous areas. Basic Health International (BHI) is a non-profit organization with a mission to eradicate cervical cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean. BHI has partnered with students at Hampshire College in Massachusetts to solve these problems. Hampshire students developed a transportable, light-weight
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gynecological exam table made from inexpensive materials. The design offers a washable surface and frame which can be worn as a backpack. The table is outfitted with several carrying pouches for supplies including the heavy gas tank necessary for treatment. It also has adjustable stirrups to account for the variability in women’s height. In March of 2012, the exam table was tested in multiple Salvadoran communities and was found to be highly acceptable to health providers. Its portability and ease of use made it possible to perform effective cervical cancer screenings in non-traditional settings. To date, the table has been tested with more than 80 women, all of whom indicated that it was comfortable. Our goal is to manufacture this product so that it is affordable and able to be widely distributed to communities with the greatest need. Please help us equip healthcare providers with the tools they need by supporting this project. Who Benefits From This Project? Many women in El Salvador are screened for cervical cancer in darkly lit bedrooms of their neighbor’s hut, sometimes on bloody sheets, beds too-low to the ground, or on top of two school desks pushed together in a classroom lacking electricity. With the portable gynecological bed, the problems associated with a lack of an appropriate exam bed are alleviated. The portable beds will provide a comfortable, safe and sanitary examination bed for women who undergo a gynecological examination in rural locations, and
increase the portability of bed and treatment. By better integrating these two components we address overarching issues such as resource scarcity and lack of medical infrastructure in rural communities not only in our organization but countries all over the developing world. How Can I Help? To make a donation online, please visit the link below. You can also set up a monthly recurring donation, which can be cancelled at any time. https://www.justgive.org/nonprofits/ donate.jsp?ein=20-3408717 Donations can also be mailed to: Basic Health International Mount Sinai Medical Center One Gustave, L. Levy Place, Box 1170 New York, NY 10029-6574 You can also make donations in honor of a friend or loved one. Basic Health is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. All Donations are Tax Deductible. Basic Health tax ID: 20-3408717 If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call 212-241-0733 or email us at info@basichealth.org. We thank you for your generosity in supporting our challenge for saving the lives of cancer patients today.
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Cup for Education
Cup for Education Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Karen Gordon www.cupforeducation.com Nicaragua Kgordon@coffeeholding.com 800-458-2233
A Schoolhouse that participates in Maestro in Casa in Honduras Project Description On a trip with Women In Coffee in January 2003 I visited Nicaragua. In the mountains of Jinotega, the largest coffee growing region, we met with women and children of small farming communities who were members of cooperatives. These are groups of farmers banded together working to improve their coffee, lives, and economic futures. However, there was an important factor missing, the basic materials necessary to attend school, along with the actual schools in many of these communities. If children are unable to attend schools in their communities, they travel to a nearby town or three hours (if they can afford to) to a larger city. There are no extras to go around, no such thing as science equipment or a library. There are no materials to take home or notebooks for homework. It has been proven time after time that education is the first thing to be sacrificed to low international coffee prices. Clearly community efforts to educate the farmers of the future need our support. How can they improve their coffees if they cannot read, write an agricultural report, study the weather or understand the fundamentals of the coffee trade? How can we ask people to diversify their farms, build strong cooperative organizations, become self-sufficient, and weather low coffee prices without basic resources for education?
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Class in the community of San Antonio, Honduras
In one such community in Jinotega, Nicaragua, we saw the power of the cooperative. They formerly held school in the back room of somebody’s small hut. With some extra money, they purchased a plot of land and started to build a schoolhouse. This building was halfway done when they ran out of money. Women In Coffee, upon seeing this structure, were truly inspired. Raising $500 among themselves they contributed this money to “Los Alpes” to assist in completing the structure. When I returned home to New York, I entreated the need of these people to Coffee Holding Company and we sponsored a teacher for this same farm. This extra effort allowed two additional grades to get educated within their own community. However, it didn’t stop there. I began my plans to found Cup for Education. An organization to help the children of coffee coffee growers around the world improve the educational conditions and bring access to better education directly to their communities. At the Specialty Coffee Association convention in Boston in 2003, we brought more attention to this issue at the first ever Women In Coffee breakfast. Women from the United States and Canada gathered with women of Central and South America to discuss the obstacles preventing progress in the coffee industry. A raffle held by Coffee Holding Company raised an additional $800 for “Los Alpes” allowing them to build outhouses, chalkboards, and the beginnings of a small library. Current Project: Maestro En Casa - 2011 & 2012 One of our current projects is located in the province of Intibucá, Honduras. This is an area of extreme poverty and geographic isolation that has historically collaborated to deny the rural indigenous population of their fundamental right to education. El Maestro en Casa works to restore this right by providing primary and secondary education to over 450 students scattered throughout isolated mountain villages. Cup for Education has supported these efforts by sponsoring one of the four educators, who, traveling by motorcycle, teaches classes in remote village student centers as well as the Study Center in La Esperanza.
Additional Projects: El Paraiso Computer Lab - Heuhuetenango, Guatemlaa 2008 - present El Paraiso is a long time project that Cup for Education has been supporting since 2008. It began with the donation of computers and software for after school skill building and education, and continues to be a resource for the children of local coffee growers. Art programs are held over school vacation, and additional reading programs as well for levels pre-school through 6th grade. El Paraiso has become a center for the community’s children. St. Gabriel Kahata Primary School, Kenya 2011-present Over the past 2 years, Cup for Education with the assistance of grants has been able to improve the conditions at the St. Gabriel Primary School in Kenya. We have build new pit latrines, for a safer, and more sanitary learning environment. This has encouraged increased enrollment. We have also been able to expand the classrooms, as well as build additional classrooms, and introduce internet. We have additional project requests as the need is great, but the funding limited. How Can I Help? Cup for Education utilizes your donations to assist in providing children in rural Central and Latin America, and Africa with the school supplies they need to create a better future for themselves. To learn more about our specific projects or to make a donation, please visit our website at www.cupforeducation.org.
Class for the Bachillerato (10 & 11th grades)
Café Femenino Foundation
Initiatives That Create Change Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Marilyn Dryke www.coffeecan.org Latin America marilyn@cafefemeninofoundation.org 800-791-1181
Project Description Since 2003, women coffee farmers, living in extremely impoverished conditions have been quietly working to make their families and communities healthier with the support and access to resources provided through the Café Femenino Foundation. By focusing the leadership, planning, and decision-making processes into the hands of the women coffee farmers of the community, the Foundation has been successfully supporting initiatives set forth by the Café Femenino vision. A few of these initiatives include gender equity, food security, and income diversification. It is through a multilayered approach that the Foundation has been able to support changes that are both sustainable and revolutionary. One of the many issues that create poverty in the coffeelands is the glaring imbalance that exists in the levels of education between men and women. This widespread problem is due to the lack of importance a woman/girl is perceived as having inside of the culture. This plays out in the access to education, trainings, and workshops inside their farmer’s cooperatives also. It is common that the male members of the farmers’ cooperative will attend trainings but the women will not have access. The Café Femenino Foundation looks for opportunities to rebalance the educational levels when possible. The 2012 Coffee Production Training Project is one such opportunity for women to receive education.
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2012 Coffee Production Training Project: In Guatemala, one focus area is on Educational Equality between men and
women, supporting trainings specifically for the women cooperative members, which are traditionally attended only by male cooperative members. We are looking to support one such project with a $3,000 grant in Guatemala. Organic production requires more labor and organic fertilizer knowledge. The women of this cooperative have expressed the need to become more educated in these areas of production. The grant creates educational equality by providing the training to the women who are usually not actively integrated in these types of events. Access to these trainings held specifically for women will give Café Femenino farmers the knowledge needed to boost their yields and thus, their incomes. Educating women goes a long way to combat poverty. Another initiative of focus for the Café Femenino Foundation is that of Income Diversification. Many impoverished coffee farmers find themselves in risky situations by investing in coffee farming as a sole source of income. To combat this, the Foundation supports ways for the women coffee farmers to create additional and diverse income sources. This gives the women the opportunity to have other financial resources and supplement their income whether the coffee harvest is good or not. Such programs have brought about tremendous change and opportunities for women and their children who do not have access to resources. This year the Foundation looks to support this in Kenya with the 2012 Goat Project that can be implemented for a cost of $3,000. The project includes the purchase of baby goats, trainings on care, veterinary support, nutrition, and marketing training to sell products made with goat’s milk. This project will allow Café Femenino women farmers to provide an additional income source to the family as well as increase the nutritional intake of their children. Its implementation has the ability to drastically change the lifestyle of coffee farming families in remote areas, and potentially create positive changes within the entire community.
The Café Femenino Foundation works in 9 countries where coffee production and extreme poverty intersect. To adopt a project or to donate to the Foundation, visit www. cafefemeninofoundation.org. To find out more about Café Femenino visit www. cafefemenino.com Who Benefits From This Project? Projects like these, put into the hands of the women coffee producers, create a paradigm shift that is occurring in most of the communities where the Foundation is working. The women are seen as organizers, decision-makers, and connected to resources for the first time. The men see the positive changes and give their support. As the men begin to see the women as leaders for the first time, the inclusion and integration of the women into decision-making positions begins to take place. The community is strengthened, the families are healthier, and the future looks that much brighter. The men begin to acknowledge the intelligence of the women. And when the women have a voice; the other half of the sky is held up. How Can I Help? To adopt a project or to donate to the Foundation, visit www.cafefemeninofoundation.org. To find out more about Café Femenino visit www.cafefemenino.com
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Women in Coffee Microcredit Union
Microcredit Union for Women in Coffee in Guatemala
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Karen Cebreros www.womenincoffeemicrocreditunion.org (under construction) Guatemala karen@tracktheimpact.com 619-546-5400
Project Description Women in Coffee Microcredit Union announces the FIRST microcredit bank in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Become a founder for this credit union for women in the coffee cooperative Adiesto. Maria’s Story 42 year old Maria López Monzón runs a 0.9 hectare farm in the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. She is the leader of a group of women producers in the local farmer organization ADIESTO. The group carries the name “Bienestar Familiar”, Spanish for “Family Welfare”. Doña Maria has been producing caturra and catuai variety coffee, two sorts originating in Brazil, on her farm for more than 20 years. In the meantime, she is managing an own pulper and fermentation tank in her backyard. Doña Maria has five children, and four are still living with her and her husband. All of them go to school, and it is her dream that they will take over the family tradition of producing coffee.
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Juana’s Story Juana Mendez is a widow. She is 59 years old, her husband died after a long time of illness when she was 40. Since
then, she not only had to bring up her seven children alone, but also needed to learn how to manage the 0.5 ha farm all by herself. While coffee means her main income, she additionally takes care of several turkeys, chicken, corn and bean plants in order to properly feed her family. Even though Juana struggles with the massive workload every day, she is proud of her farm located 1150m above sea level, in San Antonio Huista/ Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Her wish is to be able to live of her income more easily, possibly being able to afford someone that helps her managing the farm. The microcredit fund will support women participating in a project implemented by the Neumann Foundation called Our Global Coffee Village (www.ourglobalcoffeevillage. org). Who Benefits From This Project? Give poor people the power to lift themselves out of poverty. The poor want to work and the poor want build their own communities. Join our social business and give something that is more valuable than charity and a bag
of rice. Give hope, tools and access to credit to the coffee women in Adiesto in Guatemala. Look for their new products in the market place soon. Be part of the solution to a coffee world free from poverty. How Can I Help? Donate online at www.womenincoffeemicrocreditunion.org (website currently under construction).
4C Association
Uniting Efforts to Meet Sustainability Challenges in the Coffee Sector
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address:
Verónica Pérez-Sueiro www.4c-coffeeassociation.org Various Coffee Growing Countries Veronica.perez@4ccoffeeassociation.org
Project Description The 4C Association was initiated in response to the so called “international coffee crisis” in 2001. Back then, an oversupply of coffee led to the plummeting of international coffee prices, pushing millions of coffee farmers into poverty. The different stakeholders in the coffee sector came together to jointly discuss and find solutions for supporting farmers in becoming more sustainable in their production and processing practices. Since the launch of the Common Code for the Coffee Community Project in 2003, the 4C System has come a long way. Reaching agreement on a baseline standard for sustainability by the different actors in the coffee sector was an important early milestone, followed by the formal establishment of the 4C Association end 2006. The association has now successfully built a network to train producers in the application of the 4C baseline standard, set up a verification system, and broadened its network of members and partners. By the end of 2011, 79 coffee producing entities (4C Units), encompassing over 455,000 farmers and workers in 16 countries, had been independently verified to comply with the 4C Code of Conduct. This Code is the baseline sustainability standard for the production and processing of green coffee. The aggregate production potential of these 4C Units amounted to over 15 million bags of 4C Compliant Coffee, representing nearly twelve percent of today`s global coffee supply. As a pre-competitive initiative, the 4C
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Sorting out green cherries - Vietnam
Association does not only promote its own baseline standard and verification system. It also collaborates closely with other sustainability initiatives such as UTZ Certified and the Rainforest Alliance, which are both 4C Members. The objective is to promote supply and demand of verified and certified coffees in the market. “It is very encouraging to see that the volumes of verified and certified coffee are growing steadily and that more and more companies are committing to sustainable purchasing. However, there is still a lot of untapped potential to advance sustainability in the sector by bringing actors together. The 4C Association is committed to be the platform that enables all coffee stakeholders to join together in forging long-term solutions through joint projects and partnerships,” stated Melanie Rutten-Sülz, 4C Executive Director. A platform to expand sustainability in the coffee sector Membership in the 4C Association also grew considerably over the last year. As of 1 June 2012, the 4C Association had 167 members, an increase of nearly 25% from the same period in 2011. The most significant growth in membership was seen among coffee producers, traders and roasters. The 4C Association offers its members and other coffee actors a platform where they can identify and address overarching sustainability challenges and translate ideas into actions. For instance, it co-organized the first Regional Forum on Coffee and Climate Change in El Salvador in 2011. The Forum brought together for the first time, representatives of the main stakeholders in the Central American coffee sector to jointly define a Coffee Agenda for the Adaptation to Climate Change for the entire region (ACCCCA). Other activities and services include sustainability forums, thematic working groups and acquisition of project funding on specific sustainability issues.
Multistakeholder participation Who Benefits From This Project? The 4C Association is about making a difference in the lives of those who make a living from coffee production and trade. Farmers in the 4C System benefit by improving efficiency, increasing their yields, and improving their standards of living socially, environmentally and economically. Coffee traders and roasters are able to build lasting contacts and ensure a long term supply of coffee from better, more sustainable supply chains. Retailers are thereby able to provide their consumers with a worry free product and meet the increasing demand for sustainably sourced coffee while NGOs can support relevant sustainability projects. All in all, a win-win situation is created for the entire coffee community How Can I Help? Become a member of the 4C Association to contribute to our joint efforts of mainstreaming sustainability. Only through continued collaboration through this multistakeholder platform can the Association attain its ambitious goal of achieving sector-wide compliance with at least baseline sustainability criteria in the coming years.
Spreading coffee to dry - Indonesia
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Coffee & Climate
Initiative for Coffee & Climate Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Mika Adler www.coffeeandclimate.org Brazil, Guatemala, Tanzania, Vietnam info@coffeeandclimate.org +49-40-808-112-431
A farmer family in Tanzania
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Project Description Although climate changes are affecting the entire coffee sector, producing communities, in particular smallholder farmers operating with a weak resource base, are the ones with the least adaptive capacity to cope with such changes. In many places their working environment is characterized by significant structural inefficiencies hindering access to adequate know-how and means of financing. Furthermore, coffee ecosystems are highly vulnerable against climate change impacts especially due to their, in the majority of cases, degraded soils and very high deforestation rates. Without adequate information on the likely implications for agricultural activities and possible solutions, the livelihoods of many thousands of smallholder farmers and their families are at risk. This will affect not only rural communities but potentially the complete social texture in main coffee growing areas. This project aims at enabling coffee farmers to effectively respond to changing climatic conditions by assembling best practices for climate change adaptation and mitigation into a globally applicable toolbox. The project combines farmer know-how with state of the art climate change science and builds upon experiences gained within other relevant projects such as AdapCC (www.adapcc.org). Pilot projects in four key coffee regions (Brazil, Guatemala,
Tanzania, and Vietnam) are designed to test the toolbox in the field and to develop appropriate training schemes for farmers and service providers. Worldwide dissemination of the refined toolbox is promoted through the establishment of a self-financing institutional framework. The initiative for Coffee & Climate is a development partnership with
Who Benefits From This Project? Stakeholders within the pilot projects are undergoing capacity building activities, enabling them to apply effective strategies in order to respond to climate change. At least 3.000 farmers, including operators of processing stations, are trained directly by the project in order to meet climate change challenges. Furthermore, stakeholders along green coffee supply chains can utilize the toolbox for developing and applying best adaptation and mitigation practices. How Can I Help? Please visit our website (www.coffeeandclimate.org) and contact our Hamburg office to obtain more information on the initiative. We appreciate and encourage constructive feedback as well as the promotion and utilization of our toolbox.
Coffee farmers checking the freshly washed coffee beans the private sector within the BMZ program develoPPP.de. The initiative collaborates with further important partners such as the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International (CABI), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The initiative is precompetitive, open to include further dedicated parties. A Guatemalan coffee farmer
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El Dorado Coffee & Tea Co.
Project2Love “Books for Education” - Nicaragua
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Mery Santos www.eldoradoroasting.com Nicaragua eldoradoroasting@gmail.com 916-933-3346
Project Description Objective: To identify the specific educational needs supporting local curriculum and culture at the schools supported by the coffee farms that partner with El Dorado Coffee and Tea Co., through the Project2Love brand. In January of 2012, the “Books for Education” team traveled to Nicaragua to meet with La Virgen Estate team. La Virgen Estate is located 186 kilometers north of Managua in the province of Matagalpa. Education is provided to children and adults on how to care for coffee trees from the nursery to planting. Strong investment in La Virgen Estate includes, improving the quality of life for farm workers and their families through a social responsibility model that involves educational programs i.e.; preschool to sixth grade, alternative education, adult education, computer literacy, scholarships, health training, occupational safety, as well as free medical care twenty-four hours
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a day for farm workers, their families and nearby communities. The ultimate goal is to build a school that offers an accredited curriculum that is recognized by the countries educational system. Who Benefits From This Project? After a week of meetings and observations, the following needs were identified: 1. Teachers expressed the need for children and adult recreational reading. Action: El Dorado Coffee and Tea co., partnered with local community members to raise funds to purchase Spanish books from the scholastic book, Club Leo. Result: One hundred and five books were donated to the farm. Impact: Two-hundred and eighteen children and adults benefited from this initiative. 2. Spanish Language & Literature curriculum for fifth and six graders. A list of books was provided by the teachers to meet their curriculum requirements. Action: El Dorado Coffee and Tea Co.,
Donation of Books by the El Dorado Hills community to Nicaragua
partnered with an independent community bookstore. Result: Forty books donated. Impact: Eighty children benefited from this initiative. 3. Teacher Professional Development. The future High school will need permanent accredited teachers. Development plan in progress. How Can I Help? It is easy. You can contact our team to find the best way to support not only the “Books for Education” program to Nicaragua but new farms we continue adding to our list. In kind donations of books can be made directly to us to take to the farm, direct to the farm, volunteer your time to go to the schools duting harvest for summer camp activities. The inmediate need is to contribute to fund training programs for accredited teachers in Nicaragua. Contact us to find out more.
Donation of Books at Las Marias Coffee launching in El Dorado Hills
Profits 4 Purpose Software
Impacting Coffee NGOs Worldwide Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Darryl Blunk www.apffels.com Various Coffee Growing Countries darryl@apffels.com 562-309-0447 our employees to ways to directly benefit coffee workers in origin. We are organizing Webcasts so that everyone in our company gets a chance to meet representatives from the NGOs and learn how just a few dollars can make a huge impact on a coffee family. This personal connection will empower them to support the causes that speak to their hearts. Profits 4 Purpose lets them go to our platform and donate directly to that cause.
Apffels community support Project Description Apffels Fine Coffee has a rich history in supporting not only our local community but also our industry’s efforts to support our business partners in the coffeelands. For years we’ve supported the coffee NGOs, and have contributed what we could. But we wanted to do more and wanted to broaden our reach. Rather than just choosing a single NGO or two for a donation, we wanted to engage our employees and even our clients. President and CEO, Darryl Blunk recalls being inspired to take the first step, “I was listening to the Marketplace show on public radio and the CEO of Patagonia was sharing how they started to give back and now he finds himself helping others understand the strategic nature of their philanthropy. I was struck by one comment, ‘It’s never perfect, but just start.’ And so we have.” Now using the Profits 4 Purpose software tool, we have a platform to introduce
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The project will be broadened to include our clients and surrounding community members as well. Afternoon coffee gatherings will allow us to showcase our impact and hopefully will inspire our guests to take action as well. Who Benefits From This Project? The most obvious beneficiaries from our project are those who receive services from the coffee NGOs. Our employees will be better educated on how we can make a difference in origin in a variety of different ways. Rather than Apffels Fine Coffees being the sole decider of what programs we support, each employee will have their personal voice in making a difference. We are going to support more NGOs and thus their clients than we could with our old way. Apffels benefits too. Our already loyal employees feel pride in our impact and their ability to contribute to it. Including their input and participation, boosts employee morale.
community, in turn, the community will want to help the businesses – it is a cycle from which everyone profits. According to research done by Cone Inc., 85% of Americans would rather do business with a company that is cause-related, and 74% of people are more likely to recommend to others a company that gives back to the community. One final benefit is that Profits 4 Purpose provides a simplified system to manage community involvement and measure, track, and communicate our social impact with their city. “For decades we’ve been supporting the John Tracy Clinic, founded by Spencer Tracy in LA, but nobody except the founder really knew about it,” explains Darryl Bunk. “Now we can share that story and countless others like it.” How Can I Help? Join Apffels Fine Coffees in the effort to work together and collaborate. If we join forces rather than work in individual silos, and if we engage our employees and clients we can really make a difference. “You may uncover potentially something that you didn’t even know existed.” says Darryl. In the words that inspired him, giving back has strategic significance, and your implementation will never be perfect, but just start! Start by contacting www.tracktheimpact.com.
It’s good for sales too. Social impact strengthens a company’s integrity and credibility. If businesses help their
Apffels employee history
Appfels nonprofit partners page
Agros International
Contact Name: Web Site: Location: Email Address: Phone Number:
Ending Poverty Through Land Ownership
Nathan Hawkins www.agros.org Mexico, Central America nathanh@agros.org 206-528-1066
Project Description
Agros is founded on the conviction that the rural poor can and should be empowered to take control of their own destiny Agros, (Latin for “land,”) has been helping to break the cycle of poverty for landless, rural, poor families in Mexico and Central America since 1982. By offering access to agricultural land, longterm credit, and training in sustainable farming techniques and community development, families who were once migrant pickers and the like are able to start, develop and eventually own homes, farms, and the businesses they create for themselves. As an awareness of the plight of those at origin grows, people are gaining an understanding of what the coffee farming family endures in order to produce their product. Months of hunger, lack of education and limited access to healthcare are only some of the challenges they face. Imagine though, being on the economic level below that even of the small coffee farmer, on the level of the migrant coffee picker’s family, who not only make a dismal wage for
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a short period out of the year, but also have nothing to sustain the basic needs of raising a family; shelter, food, clean water, and most importantly, secure family relationships. These are the people Agros International seeks out. Through Agros’ unique, timetested, practical assistance, poor families gain the land and skills to build a better future. While respecting the knowledge, spirituality, and experience of the people, Agros supports training that brings about change in the whole person and the whole community. Agros offers stepby-step assistance and training in the following areas: - Community and leadership development - Sustainable farming techniques through diversified agricultural production - Building homes, self-composting latrines, community buildings, roads, schools and more - Family Health and child well-being assessment and education - Business and market development Agros believes that those who pay for goods and services retain a greater amount of dignity and develop a stronger sense of ownership than those who learn to expect others to meet their needs for them. Agros material and
by Sydney Yapoujian
financial support is for a limited time. Therefore, the families who participate must eventually support themselves through productive enterprises, viable social structures, and sustainable management of natural resources. The great success of Agros’ model is evidenced by the thousands of families who have paid off their land and micro-loans in the short span of five to ten years. Land ownership is key to eradicating poverty. Who Benefits From This Project? Coffee is the main income-producing crop for many Agros villages. Of Agros partner communities, 44 are producing coffee for commercial sale: 3 in Nicaragua, 1 in Honduras and 40 in Guatemala. Where possible, Agros has worked with communities to secure contracts for international export, as well as facilitating direct trade relationships. How Can I Help? YOU CAN CHANGE LIVES. Visit www.agros.org to learn practical ways to get your staff, customers and community excited about making a difference in the lives of coffee farming families. Go on a “Vision Trip” to see Agros’ in action and join in this worthy work.
Growers First Foundation
Total Health Village Contact Name: Dave Day Web Site: www.GrowersFirst.org Location: Honduras Email Address: Info@growersfirst.org Phone Number: 949-551-1085
Project Description Total Health Village projects facilitates selfempowerment so that communities are able to solve most of their own problems. This program is remarkably innovative because it does not relate to the community as a service provider, but rather as a facilitator that guides the community to identify needs, analyze their situation, plan a response strategy, actively work with the CORP (Community’s Own Resource Persons) and engage in solving their own problems. Growers First Foundation has partnered with MAP International (a medical assistance NGO) in developing a thorough, integrated approach toward empowering the rural farmers that we serve. This joint venture allows us the ability to analyze the capabilities and vulnerabilities of entire communities with a dynamic but simple approach. The Ten Seed Technique (“TST”) is a complete, systematic and scalable means of tracking and showcasing the Growers First Foundation Traceable-Transformation model. Both MAP International and Growers First have been on the ground in Honduras for several years. Growers First Foundation envisions a world where every rural farmer and family in poverty, those struggling living on less than a
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dollar a day, are empowered to achieve food security, universal education, environmental sustainability, health and wellness, combined with a transformative willingness to give back to their communities as a result of moving beyond subsistence farming. Growers First envisions all who work the land as empowered to join the global agriculture market in a significant way. Who Benefits From This Project? The La Germania I community is located 30 minutes from Siguatapeque in the Sierra de Montecillos Mountains. The community is comprised of Mestizo farmers, 80 percent of whom cultivate coffee as their livelihood, with 20 percent of the community living below the poverty line in hard conditions. 60 percent of the community land is dedicated for coffee crops (they also grow corn, beans, and a few other vegetables) and the majority of the coffee grown is of the Lempira variety, which grows well in the sun. In La Germania I, the whole family is involved in coffee farming, which means that children often help in the fields. In addition, education beyond the sixth grade requires travel outside the community, which is too expensive for most families. About 60% of the women are literate and only 40% of the men. La Germania I faces several challenges, including lack of access to credit and to health care, fear of crime, hailstorms, disease outbreaks, forest fires, and fluctuations in the coffee market. In addition, there is a need for family planning initiatives, a center to collect coffee, clean sources of drinking water and electricity.
How Can I Help? To help fully fund the Ten Seed Technique and Total Health village project in the La Germania I community, this project is budgeted at $18,000 annual. Please visit www.growersfirst.org click “Donate Today” then “Donate Now” and select “Total Health Village” under program destination As an added bonus your tax deductable donation will be matched up to $18,000 to help expand the growing partnership with the farmers and their families of La Germania I along with expanding this project to one of the 21 other villages that the Growers First Foundation serves. You can also sign up for future trips to visit the coffee farmers that we serve by visiting the “Contact” page also at www.growersfirst.org and finally, help support our farmers with the purchase of their roasted coffee at www.growersfirstcoffee.com (If interested in green coffee purchases then please contact us at info@growersfirst.org)
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