FEATURE World Neighbors
Straight to the cause INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION WORLD NEIGHBORS ON ADDRESSING THE ISSUES CAUSING PEOPLE TO FLEE COFFEE PRODUCING COUNTRIES WITH INCOME DIVERSIFICATION AND EDUCATION.
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offee prices may be on an upward trend after many years below the cost of production, but producers still face many challenges when it comes to climate change, security, and social or political turmoil. These issues, among others, have seen many producers and younger generations turning away from coffee to other crops or migrating elsewhere for a chance at a better life. The United States Government has reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocols, or “Remain in Mexico” policy, which is intended to deter immigration from Latin and Central American countries. The policy was implemented in 2019 under the Trump administration and required migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico until their US immigration court date. The Biden administration ended the policy in February 2021 before resuming them in December 2021 following a decision by the federal court. However, US Customs and Border Protection made 1.7 million apprehensions at the border with Mexico in the 2021 fiscal year, the highest
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G C R | M A R C H/ APR I L 2022
Isabel López is planting trees for food security and income generation in Chiantla.
number ever recorded. World Neighbors President and CEO Dr. Kate Schecter says these types of policies have done little to reduce the numbers of desperate people leaving these countries because they don’t address the causes for them leaving. “There is a problem with the way this issue is being addressed. Often the government considers people trying to migrate as separate to the core issues that are causing them to flee, but they are part and parcel of the same problem,” Schecter tells Global Coffee Report. “It is very hard to give up everything and travel somewhere that might not even accept you. Most people don’t want to do that, but they have no other choice if they need security or a better quality of life.” Founded in 1951, World Neighbors is a US-based international development group with 50 employees currently running projects in 14 countries around the globe. The organisation works with rural communities and remote villages to provide training and education that creates long-term solutions to their challenges. This holistic approach encompasses health, nutrition, clean water, and savings and credit projects to build capital that can be invested in small businesses. “Many development organisations push the idea of micro financing, people getting small loans from a bank that they can pay back at a low interest rate. The problem is that you’re still dealing with a bank. If you default, you’re defaulting to a bank, and many of the villages we work with are so isolated or far away that they just don’t have access,” Schecter says.
