A Cooperative Coffees Newsletter for and about
FAIR TRADE
Issue No. 4 June 2004
Fair
Trade Forum at Carter Center: A Success Story from North
to South
by Bill Harris and Monika Firl
A Fair Trade Forum following the SCAA Annual Conference brought
together mission-driven fair trade coffee companies, producer representatives
and NGO allies to discuss and clarify the intentions behind emerging new
directions in our ever-evolving world of Fair Trade. More than 30 people
attended the session including producer representatives from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Peru, and Tanzania. Allies included
representatives from Oxfam, International Federation of Alternative Traders,
Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran World Relief and Ecologic Finance.
The forum, sponsored by Cooperative Coffees,
Equal Exchange and the Fair Trade Resource Network, and supported by the
Presbyterian Hunger Fund, provided an excellent opportunity to consult with our
partners and allies for feedback, suggestions and concrete proposals for future
activities around issues such as: the proliferation of product certification
labels in the coffee industry, leveraging our networks for better public and
consumer awareness, changes within the international Fair Trade monitoring
system and shared concerns among small-scale farmers and our organizations
about the long-term consequences of plantations in Fair Trade systems. It was a
very positive experience and a great way to bring perspective and closure to
the often-frenetic SCAA conference.
“I
take a great impression back to the 115,000 families I work with in Peru,” said Teodorio
Melendes, CENFROCAFE in Peru. “I will bring this
information back to them.”
“We
have discovered that we hold many points and concerns in common,” added Jeronimo Bollen of Manos Campesinas. “That has been very interesting for us. We are
committed to following up on next steps.”
We
acknowledged that the Fair Trade movement is facing lots of controversial
issues. But our intentions were to not to be divisive, rather through sincere
internal discussion amongst a variety of actors to create a stronger and more
united movement.
“Each
actor has a role to play and we have to positively interact with each other and
share ideas and visions on regional and international levels,” said Pedro Haslam of CECOCAFEN, Nicaragua. “Pre-financing also plays
a fundamental role in Fair Trade and contributes to a solid movement. But we
need to remember that Fair Trade is not a price: the price doesn’t provide the
answer for all things – it’s a solution for life itself. In Nicaragua, Fair Trade has meant an
opportunity to change peoples’ lives, and the lives of their families.”
But
still, many participants expressed the need to better understand where the
movement is heading.
“When
we started it was all about small producers,” said Raymond Kimaro
of KNCU, Tanzania. “Over the years, it has
shifted, and we are getting to plantations, actually we are already there. If we are in plantations with tea and mango, why not coffee as
well? It is a logical next step for the system. But where does this take
us? Are we trying under the FLO umbrella to solve all the world’s problems?
Today we are talking about the problems of small farmers, then farm workers.
Tomorrow will we be talking about the problems of all workers? Miners? What else??”
There
was general concern about the way the Fair Trade movement is evolving in North America and recognition of the need
to create common strategies and design plans for specific actions.
“It
has been great to have everybody here and sharing,” said Rink Dickinson,
co-director of Equal Exchange. “We are creating a space and building energy. We
know that there are many other people out there who could be sitting at this
same table. Some may be tied to the SCAA and EE and CC, but there are also many
others. I would like to see us create another space with workshops and even
deeper discussion.”
“I
appreciate the enormous respect and commitment to the small producer that I
sensed in this room today,” added Sarah Ford of Lutheran World Relief. “We have
a strong common denominator. There are other allies trying to understand trade
justice in their own work; there is definitely a value to bringing this
discussion out to a wider circle.”
We
discussed the kinds of efforts and collaboration it will take to strengthen our
voice, and to maintain the highest standards for Fair Trade: list serves,
campaigns, broader coordination amongst our allies, conferences and joint
projects are all on the table. Our first collaborative step: a public
conference that night at Agnes Scott College!
The
next morning, we were back at the Carter Center bright and early for a
delightful exchange with President Carter. Raymond Kimaro
from Tanzania's KNCU and Pedro Haslam from Nicaragua's CECOCAFEN talked about
the coffee crisis and how historically low prices are affecting communities and
families in their countries. We then discussed the Fair Trade model with
President Carter – including the role of the importer and roaster, the critical
need for pre-financing of coffee contracts, and how non-profits are engaging
their constituents in the Fair Trade movement. We were all touched by the
interest that President Carter expressed in the challenges faced by the farmers
and his desire to learn more about Fair Trade system.
After photos and goodbyes, a smaller group of 15 hopped in the van for
a tour of scenic southwest Georgia, a visit to Café Campesino and Habitat for Humanity and another public event
at Georgia Southwestern University. The tour began with ice
cream cones at the local café in downtown Plains, before visiting President
Carter’s boyhood home. President Carter was raised on a farm and the home and
grounds are the latest addition to the National Park Service facilities in Sumter County, GA. All of the producer
representatives seemed quite interested in President Carter’s farming roots and
were impressed by his friendly, small town.
At
the end of three days together, we were grateful to this impressive group of
cooperative leaders from all over the world were willing to have taken this
time with us. From a Fair Trade perspective, perhaps the most important aspect
of visits like this is the quality time talking with one another as friends and
partners!
For
a complete report of the Georgia meetings and updates on the
Mission-Based Fair Trade Forums, visit the Cooperative Coffees web site listed
below!
Cooperative
Coffees joins Witness for Peace in Colombia, March/April 2004
A
few years ago I met John Peg, the regional director for Witness for Peace
(WFP). We discussed teaming up by
leading a delegation to Latin America and exploring issues
through both a sociopolitical and economic lense. Witness for Peace leads delegations in many
of the same countries that Peace Coffee buys from; but I was especially
interested in one country. Colombia was the only trading
partner we had never visited (primarily because of safety concerns). John told
me WFP could provide the security blanket I needed to make the trip. So this
past March, John Myrick of Los Armadillos and I met our fellow travelers in Miami to embark on a 10-day visit
to Colombia.
Witness
for Peace has been "giving a voice to the voiceless" in Latin America since the early eighties.
Traveling to countries to meet with people affected by U.S. foreign policy, delegates
return motivated to work for change. Going to the land of Juan Valdez, I obviously wanted to
learn as much as possible about the coffee industry, meet the producers and
explore potential relationships with new groups. But I also expected to learn about Colombia's conflict and the role the
United States has played, especially
regarding the impact of Plan Colombia in the countryside.
Our
first coffee visit was in downtown Bogotá at the headquarters of the Federation
of Colombian Coffee Growers - the true creators of the ubiquitous Juan Valdez
ad campaign. This is Big Coffee; very
sophisticated and light-years away from my typical coffee trip experience,
which is hanging out with the farmers in remote corners of the world. The Federation has helped producers receive
higher prices in Colombia than in most other
countries. But to do so, they have created an enormous bureaucracy that is
difficult to maintain in these times of price crisis. To their credit, the Federation is
recognizing Fair Trade and organic coffees, a very important step for the
sustainability of Colombian coffee and a sign that the Federation is taking the
concerns of small-scale producer groups into account.
At Peace
Coffee and Cooperative Coffees, we believe that the small-scale producer is the
future for sustainability, in every sense of the word. The visit to Fondo Paez, our newest new
producer partner, proved once again the wisdom of that belief. We spent three
days in the Paez Indigenous reserve, meeting with
farmers and seeing some of the most beautiful agriculture imaginable. The Paez have a holistic approach to farming, built on
self-sufficiency. Coffee is a key
component, but we also saw corn, bean, fruit trees, medicinal herbs and many
other plants and trees growing in the diverse fields (more forest-like than
farm-like). Fondo
Paez was founded in 1992, with the primary goal of
recuperating traditional indigenous agricultural knowledge. They became more organized and by 2000 they
were selling coffee through the Coffee Federation’s Specialty Coffee
program. In 2003 they produced 7
containers of coffee, both conventional and organic certified. They are
governed democratically and extraordinarily well organized.
To
get an overview of the political situation, our delegation met with dozens of
Colombian organizations: community groups, elected officials, campesino and indigenous organizations, unions, the
Colombian military and others. It was a
very wide spectrum of the society and we asked them all the same thing,
"What are your thoughts on Plan Colombia". The overwhelming answer from the civil
society was that our tax dollars should not be spent training and arming the
Colombian military. I left Colombia both depressed and
encouraged. The amount of violence in Colombia is staggering and I have
never in my life been so exposed to that reality. The prospect for a short-term solution is
hard to imagine. On the other hand it
was empowering to see so many people continuing to struggle for a better
society, especially the Paez coffee farmers. By buying Fair Trade coffee from groups like
these we are not just ensuring economic success, but also helping to build a
new society founded on justice, ecological harmony and peace.
Fair Trade Briefs:
Café Rico Trains Roaster
for Mut Vitz Coffee
The
charming and delightful Bertha Cuautle Carreon. Spent nearly the month of April in Montreal learning
the tricks of the trade with Stephane Kordahi, Cooperative Coffees Montreal member and owner of
Café Rico.
The
successful marketing experience Mano a Mano has facilitated for the farmers of Mut
Vitz, one of our partner organizations in Mexico, is an example of the kinds
of sustainable development alternatives we hope to continue supporting in the
future. We hope that by refining local expertise in coffee roasting, this will
facilitate their capacity to continue growing the local market for roasted and
ground coffee in tourist regions of Mexico.
Kenyan Coffee on the Fair Trade Radar Screen
Following
a brief meeting during the SCAA between Cooperative Coffees and representatives
of a Kenyan delegation including US-based representatives for Kenyan Fair Trade
and advisors to the Kenyan government, Bill Harris and Larry Larson of Larry’s
Beans agreed to a follow-up meeting in May with Kenya’s Minister of Cooperative
Development, Hon Peter Njeru Ndwiga.
The
meeting was coordinated and facilitated by Simon Nyagah,
a coffee exporter hired
by the Kenya government to promote Kenya coffee in the United States. He has a
dealer ‘A’ coffee marketing license from the government of Kenya, which enables
him to buy coffee from the Nairobi coffee auction.
One of Simon’s
primary objectives is to meet and bring to the Minister’s attention groups
capable of getting fair prices to Kenya growers and promoting
small-scale farmers. Over the course of the past six months, Simone has met
with many groups. But it is the relationship between Kenya Fair Traders Inc and
Cooperative Coffees that seems to have captured his imagination.
Kenya Fair Traders Inc. (KFT) is an exporter/importer of
exclusively Fair Trade certified Kenyan products, based in Raleigh, NC. KFT
works with farmer cooperatives in Kenya that are
democratically managed and yearn to reach sustainable development in their
communities through coffee and other subsistence farming. KFT will introduce,
for the first time in Kenya, Fair
Trade standards that will benefit the farmer and ensure sustainable growth to
the Kenyan coffee industry.
KFT and C.C.
have agreed to work together in initiating a pilot project to introduce Fair
Trade to Kenyan coffee growers, as well as availing the much-awaited Fair Trade
Kenyan coffee to North American consumers.
CC Roasters visit Coffee Lab International
The Green Bean Committee coordinated the
first-ever Cooperative Coffees roasting and cupping workshop June 10 and 11,
with the support of Mané Alves
at Coffee Lab International in Vermont.
Attending was a lively blend of our experienced to most neophyte roasters.
Participants included: TJ Semanchin, Peace Coffee;
Larry Larson, Larry's Beans; Drew Park, Bongo Java; Lee
Harris, Cafe Campesino; Chris Treter,
Higher Grounds Trading; and Monika Firl, Cooperative
Coffees.
Cupping exercises included blind tastes, grading
and discussing how our beans compare to “typical” or “exceptional” coffees from
same region.
We were able to experiment, looking at the
affects of changing speed and temperatures, and to discuss the ideal roast
profiles for our stock varieties.
“You want to find the sweet spot of every
coffee,” Mané Alves
recommended. “Drive out the moisture, get to the first pop, then work the
characteristics of the bean.”
We discussed how different green processing
techniques affect cup quality, and we were able to take a close look at some
promising new sources.
“The class was great!” said
Café Campesino roaster, Lee Harris. “I was thoroughly
impressed with Mané, his facility and his staff. I
feel that I have a much better understanding of the cupping process and the
SCAA form, and a better understanding of how to manipulate the roaster machine
to get the coffee roast I want.”
The experience was rich,
rewarding and… a whole lot of fun!
by T.J. Semanchin
– Peace Coffee