Loja Province

Despite the fact that 98% of the coffee in Ecuador is grown by small-scale farmers, only 5% have organized themselves into associations, or co-operatives.  FAPECAFES  is one of the only associations of small coffee farmers in Ecuador and the only Fair Trade coffee association in the entire country.

Historically, coffee was one of the most important crops in Ecuador. However, starting in the 1970s, the government increased investments in the oil and banana industries. In the late 1980s, when the world price for coffee began to drop, government support was pulled back even further. Coffee farmers could no longer support their families and began abandoning their farms to look for jobs in the cities. Many migrated to Spain, Italy and the U.S.

At a meeting with the FAPECAFES governing board, the farmers explained how difficult it has been for coffee growers without support from their government.  Valentin Chinchay explained, “If we hadn’t organized ourselves into work groups and associations and pulled together to meet all the challenges, many of us would probably be in Spain right now, living as undocumented immigrants.”  Even COFENAC, the government coffee agency, does little to support Ecuador’s small-scale coffee farmers. The agency favors the large-scale coffee processors and exporters and the relatively few large individual growers – most of whom also own, or are connected to, the mills and export agencies.  To help fund its programs, COFENAC charges a 2% tax on all coffee processing. Since co-operatives such as FAPECAFES and independent small-scale farmers are charged money to have their coffee processed, they pay this tax but never receive benefits from COFENAC (such as technical assistance, trainings, or processing equipment for their farms).

Meeting with FAPECAFES Board and staff

Given this context, it was amazing to spend time with the FAPECAFES staff and board, and to visit the members and see their farms. In spite of the many technical, environmental and financial challenges they are up against, they are incredibly dedicated, high-spirited and enthusiastic about their organization.

Ecuador is one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries, home to over 1,500 bird species and the largest amount of plant species per area in all of the Americas.  Unfortunately, the country is being deforested at an alarming rate: only 6% of Ecuador’s rich tropical forests remain today.

Deforestation is causing severe problems in southern Ecuador; landslides are common occurrences

Throughout the world, small farmers face an increasingly hard time making a living. When the international price for an agricultural commodity – such as coffee – falls near or below the costs of production, farmers have few options to support their families. Trees are often cut down to sell for lumber or to be used for firewood.

The price for this deforestation is high: in addition to the loss of habitat for migratory song birds and other wildlife, deforestation causes soil erosion, landslides and climactic changes which further impact the area’s ecological cycle. Not only does the lack of trees make it harder for the soil to hold moisture, but the climatic conditions actually change – it rains less, which further affects the crop yields. And so the farmers produce less, make less money, and therefore must cut down the trees to sell for firewood. The cycle continues.

On the road to Palanda to visit one of the coffee associations (APECAP) organized through FAPECAFES, we had to stop while workers cleared boulders from a landslide off the road. Landslides in this area are a common occurrence due to the amount of soil erosion caused by extreme deforestation.

Yet another landslide

Patricio Sanchez, coordinator of CORECAF – a local non-governmental organization that provides technical assistance and advocacy support to small farmers – accompanied me on this part of the trip. We spent considerable time talking about the extent of deforestation in the southern provinces and the huge impact this has on both farmers and the environment. “Coffee is our only hope,” Patricio told me. “Look out there at the landscape,” he said, pointing out the vehicle window. “Whenever you see a wooded area; it’s a coffee farm.” He went on to explain that the only farmers in the region still working their land are those coffee farmers who have affiliated with APECAP.  Higher prices and technical assistance are just some of the benefits they receive by being organized in this association and selling to the Fair Trade market.

We spent the afternoon visiting with local APECAP member José Armijos. In 2003, about 70 members formed APECAP; the association received its Fair Trade and organic certifications that same year. At that time, they were receiving 45 cents per pound for their coffee. “With organic and Fair Trade certifications, we began receiving better prices for our coffee and that encouraged us to continue,” José said. Two years later, they sold six containers of coffee to the Fair Trade market, and with the extra premiums, hired extension workers to provide technical assistance and began investing in improvements to their processing equipment. Inspired by their neighbors’ success, 250 additional farmer families joined APECAP.

Jose Armijos

Jose Armijos picking ripe cherries

José led us through his coffee groves, chatting and joking throughout the day. After all the arid landscapes, stark deforestation, and landslides on the long trip from Loja, it was refreshing to be under so much shade and surrounded by greenery. The farm was full of fruit trees: lemons, oranges, guava, bananas, plantains, pineapples, and many other fruits I’d never seen before.  He made us sample everything.  At one point, his wife climbed up the steep mountainside to bring us a tray of freshly squeezed lemonade.  At the end of a long, but very fun visit, José concluded: “We don’t want anyone to give us anything. A fair price for our coffee will help provide us with trainings; then we’ll show you results. We’ve received little help from the government and look how far we’ve already come.”

One of the ways that FAPECAFES is trying to help its members is through farm renovations that will increase their yields. Years of low prices made it difficult for farmers to maintain their farms in optimum condition. Soils are depleted and yields have dropped dramatically, making it even more difficult to produce enough coffee per acre to make a living. So the farmers are choosing to reinvest some of their premiums into tree plantings – both coffee and shade trees. FAPECAFES provides them with technical assistance in organic composting, terracing, and pest control.

Members also receive trainings in quality and loans to make improvements in their processing infrastructure. For many years, the price of coffee on the local (and international) market was so low that farmers picked all their coffee at one time – regardless of whether it was ripe or not – and laid it out on their patios to dry in the sun. Local buyers came by and bought this coffee, called “natural,” for an extremely low price. FAPECAFES is now training the farmers in how and when to pick the best beans and has provided them with low-cost loans to buy depulping machines.  Now, the farmers are using this “wet processing” method, which produces a much higher quality coffee for the international market.  Higher prices and Fair Trade premiums provide the incentive to change their practices.

A depulping module

Once the pulp is removed from the coffee beans and dried in the sun, it is taken to the dry mill for the final stage in the processing. FAPECAFES currently rents the dry mill from COFENAC, the government coffee agency. The mill had been unused for decades and was in terrible condition when they rented it.   José Apolo, the Quality Control Director for FAPECAFES, told me that when the members approached COFENAC with the idea of making the mill operational again, rather than receiving support, they felt that the agency took advantage of them.  They have been charged exorbitant rents and have had to invest their own money into repairing the building and upgrading the machinery. 

Mill that FAPECAFES was renting from the government

Coffee sacks at the mill

Checking the moisture content of the drying coffee beans

Talking with an APECAM producer, Carlos Hortensio Moreno

Jose accompanied me to the Province of El Oro to visit the farmers organized in the association APECAM.  He had just returned from Guayaquil where he was visiting a processing facility to learn about their machinery and operations.  The farmers had recently made the decision to use a portion of their Fair Trade premium to buy land and build their own dry mill and he was very enthusiastic about the strides the organization would be able to make in quality and cost savings by owning and running their own mill. For the first time, they won’t be paying a 2% tax for benefits they never see but instead would reinvest in their own organization!

Land bought by FAPECAFES in Catamayo where they plan to build their own mill

Only in the last few years have the farmers begun to see the benefits of their association. Now they follow careful steps to ensure high quality beans: they sell directly to the Fair Trade market and receive a higher price, and they reinvest this higher premium into infrastructure and technical assistance that further contributes to their co-operative business. Their coffee is sold under their name and buyers are starting to recognize its unique flavor profile. After years of feeling hopeless and powerless, the farmers are participating in meetings, making decisions, behaving as business people and feeling the fledging excitement that comes when one can begin to imagine a future for oneself and one’s family.

I asked Carlos if there were other projects that the members were choosing to support with their Fair Trade premiums and he told me an unforgettable story. In addition to all of their investments in the coffee, FAPECAFES has also made contributions to local health clinics. Apparently, venomous snakes live in the coffee groves and snakebite is one of the more common ailments that necessitate a visit to the clinics. If these bites are not treated quickly, it can be fatal and several children in the region have died because they couldn’t get the antibody in time. Unfortunately, the government-run health clinics lack resources, and often the syrum is simply not available. So at last year’s General Assembly meeting, the APECAM producers voted to use a portion of their Fair Trade premiums to buy rubber boots for the children to protect them from the snakes and to supply the local clinics with snake-bite syrum. “To date, we have saved the lives of several children,” Carlos told me. “We wish that our government put more value on our children’s health, but even if they don’t, we will continue to work together and find our own ways to protect our families. Please tell your consumers how much we appreciate their assistance in our struggle.” 

Riosucio, Colombia

December 5th 2008

View of Supia, Caldas… one of the towns where our coffee producer partners grow our Organic Colombian coffee

How do you tell a story that started so long ago that it has a multitude of sub-plots, characters, successes and challenges? I could start at the beginng in 1996 when Equal Exchange first purchased coffee from the Indigenous Resguardos (Reserves) around Riosucio or I could start when I first visited Riosucio in 1999 or I suppose I could start when we imported our first 90 bags of organic coffee in 2003 but I think I will start with the rain or “invierno”, as they call it here.

The 2008 harvest began with the flowering of the coffee trees in February which would have provided a bountiful harvest eight months later but then the rain started and has not stopped since. Take a look at the internet and you will see stories of flooding, landslides and disasterously low harvest throughout Colombia. According to the meticulous records of Don Hernan Trujillo, Riosucio has only had 8 days of straight sun three times since February. This has resulted in extremely low harvests and lots of damage to the coffee farms. To put it simply: summer never came this year.

There is general agreement among the farmers here that the climate is changing and it is having serious impact on the livelihoods of our partners. I never curse the rain but I want to now after days of walking through a landscape seriously impacted by it. Every road I have traveled shows multiple small landslides impeding passage; all of the coffee farms are affected one way or another and everyone is wondering: why is it raining so much and when will it stop?

Very sad and sobering to witness, but despite that I have seen some great stuff and am really excited by the progress that has been made over the last several years here. Three years ago, the Lutheran World Relief/Equal Exchange Small Farmer Fund gave a $66,000 dollar grant to the Asprocafe Ingruma Coffee Co-operative to support productivity improvements in the organic project. This included; soil analysis, credit for women and young people to buy pigs or cows for manure to use as fertilizer, and exchange programs with organic farmers in Nicaragua, among other things.

Last year Equal Exchange and Asprocafe organized a quality competition with the 350 organic farmers in Asprocafe to motivate the organic farmers participating in the program.  This year we returned to do a second competition at the end of the productivity project. On Tuesday, I visited last year’s first place winner to learn what he had done with his prize money and to see the condition of his farm. Don Franciso Javier Rodriguez lives in La Torre of Supia at 1900 meters above sea level. He produces coffee on about 2 hectares. When he won last year, he called his wife on a cell phone (yes they are everywhere now) to let her know that he had won and she wouldn’t believe him until she spoke with someone else. When I arrived at the river way below his house to start the long climb up he was still surprised that I had showed up, exclaiming that he never believed I would come or that any “gringo” would come to visit him. It was a long climb up through a saturated landscape through lots of mud. When we finally arrived at his tidy blue house on a flat spot just below cloud level, we were greeted by his wife, daughter and a hearty second breakfast.

After our meal, they showed me what they had bought with the prize money ($750 USD). Right after collecting his prize money he gave half of it back to Asprocafe to buy the materials for a biodigester that would produce methane gas for the kitchen, replacing the wood stove his wife had labored over all of her life.  The other half he used to make a payment on a loan he had recieved to buy a cow, which has produced three calves since he first bought it.

The cool thing here is that the prize money provided the materials for the biodigester which includes large sheets of plastic to make a long balloon and some pvc piping to conduct urine from the stables to the balloon and to then bring gas to the kitchen as well as to conduct the effluent to a cement tank. The effluent is then used as fertilizer; in this case on sugar cane. It’s not just the prize money that made this possible; it’s also the loans from the cooperatives to build the simple stable and pig stye as well as the credit to buy the pig and cow, most of which was fruit of the LWR/EE productivity project. It is a wonderful example of a multi-prong approach where Equal Exchange works with its U.S.-based partners and its farmer partners to create an integrated project that benefits everyone.

I am of Norwegian stock out of Minnesota and not given to great displays of emotion, but it was really heart warming and quite emotional to hear how the gas stove had changed the family´s life: Dona Rodriquez remembers the exact day the system started to produce gas, December 31^st 2007. They no longer had to travel far up the mountain to gather wood, she no longer had to cook in a kitchen filled with smoke from burning wet wood that hurt her eyes and causes lung problems, Wow! Imagine going from having to start a fire every morning to just turning on your stove and have a strong bright flame. Another benefit is they are no longer gathering wood from the remaining forests. The cow they bought has produced more cows, milk and fertilizer. All in all a great example what we can do together.

Back in town, Beth Ann and the cupping team from the coop- Angelica, Yaneth, Edwin and Magda- have been busy cupping 150 samples for this year’s competition and despite the rain the farmers have turned in some very high quality coffee. It’s exciting to see this group of young people be so confident in their work as cuppers and perhaps more importantly, to see that they are still involved in agriculture. Tomorrow is the final round of cupping where we will select the top ten coffees and on Sunday the big event, where as many as 250 farmers will trek through the mud on their way to town to give presentations about their villages and associations, will receive presentations from the agricultural extention workers and what they are really waiting for is to see who won the competition. Stay tuned for an update on the results and hopefully some pictures but for now I am off to a place called Sirpirria to visit some more farms and later I will meet with the technical team from the cooperative to plan the next steps and talk about our plan to build a small scale organic fertilizer production facility. I wish I could share everything I have seen and know about this amazing place and its people but alas it would cover many pages. Pray or meditate for Sun in Colombia.

To learn more about the organic project that Todd refers to in his post, click here.  To read an earlier trip report I wrote after my first visit to Asprocafe, click here.

In 1994 the organization was legally registered as a civil society association under the name “Ecological Farmers of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas” (CESMACH).  Then, in 1996, they obtained their first certification of organic processes and products from the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) and, in that same year, they were able to begin selling organic coffee to the United States. Eventually, in the year 2000, Cesmach was accepted as a Fair Trade member, having complied with the criteria established for small coffee-producing cooperatives by Max Havelaar. Currently, Cesmach is organically certified in accordance with the National Organic Program (NOP) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and following the guidelines established by the European Union.  It also has Fair Trade certification with FLO International.

1999 was an important year for Cesmach because the organization carried out both internal and external development via a process of priority analysis which helped the group identify strategies that would allow for the cooperative to continue on and to grow in the region, by paying closer attention to urgent needs and by searching for alliances and allies that share the organization’s objectives and needs. Cesmach analyzed basic elements such as access to financing, integrated product quality improvement, increase in the number of producer members in order to create an economic, social and environmental impact, internal capitalization, acquisition of infrastructure and equipment, etc.

Cesmach’s offices and coffee storage warehouse.

The cooperative today

Today Cesmach is well-established as a true cooperative that is active and that serves as a tool for its associated small-coffee producers. It is primarily dedicated to searching for solutions and to making proposals in response to the complex set of problems faced by the small coffee producers and their communities. The following chart provides some information on the evolution of this organized group:

In 2006, CESMACH went through a second internal analysis and strategic planning process, designed to update the co-operatives’ objectives and goals in the framework of a new market reality and changes in the organization to include greater participation from the producer-members, the communities, former leadership from committee members, and the employees.  

Sustainable coffee farm

Currently Cesmach is organized into operational departments (production, commercialization, administration and accounting, commercialization and community development). The important activities of this social business are grouped into programs that are described below.

Collecting pergamino coffee in the farmers’ warehouse.

Sustainable coffee program

The goal of this program is to systematize and carry out production activities, to oversee investment, and to improve the processing and marketing of the organization’s coffee while maintaining ecological standards and a highly-responsible social ethic. A component that was incorporated in 2005 was conservation of the biodiversity, going beyond the farms and looking at that which has the greatest impact on conservation: El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve’s flora and fauna. The result is a coffee that has a tremendous impact on its communities of origin with regards to social, economic, and natural resources.

A visit from Equal Exchange, one of our primary allies in promoting sustainable coffee.

Project to enter domestic coffee market

In order to give the coffee a greater added value and to offer a high-quality product to the Mexican consumer, in 2006 the cooperative acquired the necessary equipment to roast, grind and package its coffee. This is a new project, and one in which relatively little investment has been made, but it is already self-sustaining. However, for it to move to a larger scale, significant investments would need to be made in infrastructure, training, promotion and product development.

Roasted and ground coffee for the Mexican market

Community development program

Since its inception, Cesmach has sought to address other social aspects outside of the coffee supply chain, including the areas of education, food supply, women’s organization, health, etc. However, it was not until 2007 that the Community Development Program was created as a way to provide on-going attention to these social issues—issues that are very important not only in and of themselves but also to the process of being competitive in the existing supply and demand of local coffee production. Some of the projects and actions that have been implemented through this program are highlighted below.  In addition to internal resources through the sales of coffee and funds acquired through the Fair Trade premium, these projects have also received additional financial support through the non-profit organization, Heifer International, as well as the coffee companies, Green Mountain and Equal Exchange.

Food Security & Product Diversification:

Diversification of fruit tree production

Through this project, crops now include gardens and sub tropical fruit trees—peaches, macadamia, citrus, Hass avocados, and apples. The hope is that this will improve the family diet and generate additional income in the future through the sale of the excess production.

Delivery of fruit trees for the product diversification project.

Project to establish organic hen- and egg-production modules

The primary goal of this project is to provide locally-produced poultry and eggs in order to improve family nutrition, generate additional income and to strengthen the economy for those communities affiliated with the organization.

Backyard hen project

Building our Future project

The goal of this project is to incorporate animal and vegetable production in order to strengthen the economy and family food supply for farmers—a model that can eventually be replicated in a chain-like manner (transference of the support received by the initial beneficiaries to a second generation of beneficiaries).  This proposal is based on the idea that the community will carry out other activities beyond the production of coffee, to include backyard animals, organic gardens, ecological beekeeping, fisheries, production of edible mushrooms and on-going training.

Food Security Program activities (organic gardening, backyard animals, edible mushrooms, fisheries, honey production, capacity building, etc.)

Rescuing Local Species

Project to rescue native species

The goal of this project is to encourage the protection, propagation and cultivation of regional vegetable species such as xate palm and pacaya (the first is ornamental and the second is a food item) as well as the tree tomato (which provides an edible fruit)—establishing the plants in nurseries and then transferring them to the coffee fields to create living barriers or to the spaces that are adjacent to the coffee plots.

The rescue of local species: the tree tomato, the pacaya and the xate palm

Strengthening social fabric and environmental education

The organization seeks to strengthen the community’s skills, to establish a greater cohesion among the members, and to raise awareness about the conservation and protection of natural resources from a community perspective.

Participatory workshops on values and human development

Goals and expectations

In the immediate future, Cesmach is trying to find ways to respond to its growing membership, which includes a growing number of families and increased potential for sales value. There is an economic impact on the families, a conservation impact because of the increased number of hectares that are being planted, and the region as a whole is impacted. This leads us to face the challenge of finding solutions to our most serious deficiencies of financing, training, technical assistance in quality control, and a social commitment to explore together ways to respond to the social needs that are increasingly diverse every day.

We must also take into consideration the fact that there is greater competition in the niche market, including private companies that have much greater economic capacity, which makes the panorama seem more competitive and complex.

In the medium- and long-term, Cesmach represents the possibility to consolidate a farmer development model. There is no doubt that there has been an increased participation by the family in all areas of the production chain and in the activities and projects and has helped to generate greater viability.

The incorporation of family members is a valuable element—beyond the producer members there should be participation by the women and the children as well as future generations so that, in the future, they will be able to take over and direct the cooperative as they look to meet the primary objectives for which the organization was created.

 “Our commitment is a better tomorrow for everyone.”

Most of us don’t think too much before we light up our stoves in preparation for cooking a meal. Yet, unfortunately, this daily activity which nourishes our bodies and brings families and communities together, can also severely impact the health of rural women in the Global South. The quantity of smoke they’re breathing and the amount of time they spend in their kitchens adds up over the course of a lifetime. In fact, respiratory illnesses are one of the most common maladies that afflict the rural poor in Central America.

It’s not just the health of women that suffers through this manner of cooking, however. As you can see from the photos above, it also takes a lot of firewood to keep temperatures hot. The constant gathering of ever more firewood is not only an exhaustive chore, but is also one of the primary causes of deforestation in the countryside. Ultimately deforestation causes a host of other environmental problems, such as soil erosion, decreased rainfall and water yields, as well as loss of wildlife habitat. We now know that the rapid rate at which we’re destroying our forests is contributing to global climate change and more severe and more frequent natural disasters.

But in Boaco, Nicaragua, the Tierra Nueva Union of Co-operatives is changing all this. “We have to reduce our firewood consumption. The biggest drain on the forest is the need for firewood, so we’re going to help our members acquire new fuel-efficient stoves that will eliminate the need to cut down so much wood,” explains Pedro Rojas, president of Tierra Nueva.

Two years ago Equal Exchange and our Interfaith partner, Presbyterian U.S.A., funded a small reforestation, environmental protection, and food security project created by the Tierra Nueva Union of Co-operatives. This organic, Fair Trade coffee and honey co-operative has a long-standing partnership with Equal Exchange. After a visit several years ago, when we repeatedly heard from the farmers how proud they were of their efforts to protect their fragile eco-systems and saw how committed their president, Pedro Rojas, was in taking measures to conserve their natural resources, Equal Exchange and Presbyterian U.S.A. decided it was time to do our part as well. And so, the project, “Planting Trees for Life in Nicaragua”  was born and funded.

This past month, Dana Welch from our Minnesota office, and I visited Tierra Nueva to see how they were doing, visit with the farmers, and learn how the project was progressing. We had a great visit and we were very pleased with the results. More importantly, so are the farmers!

Less time in the kitchen, smoke in the lungs, and destruction of the forest

Altogether, 70 families located in three communities, San Buenaventura, Las Mercedes and Filas Verdes, have benefitted from the project. Sixteen families received new fuel-efficient stoves which not only require less firewood, but diminish cooking time, and channel the smoke out of the house through the use of chimneys. The women say they can’t believe how different they feel without the constant smoke in the air.

Most families chose to construct the standard size stove, as shown below next to Jessenia and Ezekial. Their mother Celia Davila Medina is a member of the Fuente de Oro (Fountain of Gold) Co-operative.

Of course, if you’re Maria Theresa Mendoza Martinez (shown below with Agueda Ordeñana, Project Coordinator at Tierra Nueva), who proudly cooks delicious organic meals for many of the visitors who come to Filas Verdes… well , you don’t want just any fuel-efficient stove… you’re going to dream up a large, 3-burner… or you’ll pass the whole day in the kitchen just to feed those delegations of Equal Exchange staff, food co-op partners, or Presbyterian friends!

I asked Maria Theresa how she was spending her newly acquired “free” time and she told me that she decided to join the co-operative as a member in her own right. (Previously, only her husband Jacobo Cisneros was a legal member.) In addition, Maria Theresa is participating in a women’s leadership development program and has just graduated from the first set of trainings in micro-enterprise development. She’s considering running a community nursery where other members can purchase young coffee seedlings – but that idea will be further developed in the second phase of the program.

Speaking of nurseries and coffee seedlings…

Through the “Planting Trees for Life”  project, Tierra Nueva established 44 nurseries, in which over 200,000 coffee seedlings were cultivated and distributed to the Tierra Fertil (Fertile Earth) and Fuente de Oro co-op members to help them renovate their farms. Below, on the left, is a coffee nursery. On the right, Marvin Tonico Polanco, Fuente de Oro co-op member, is showing us his beautifully cared for coffee farm complete with new coffee trees.

Marvin’s farm was the organic certifiers dream! Rows of live plant barriers (below), dead barriers (logs and brush) and the use of terracing, protect the soil from erosion. You can see how the barriers also help keep a cover of leaves and other materials which decompose adding nutrients to the soil. The coffee is planted in a row below with plenty of shade above.

Shade for your coffee, fruit in your diet, and some extra change in your pocket

The third part of the project enabled co-op members to receive a total of 5,000 citrus trees (oranges, lemons, and mandarins) to provide additional shade for the coffee and fruit for the families’ consumption. The fruit is also sold in the local market, providing extra income for the families. Below, Karen Ortiz (Tierra Fertil Co-op) shows off a newly planted lemon tree and one already bearing fruit.

Below, her father Ramón, picks some oranges for us and Agueda offers to carry them back to town.

After a full day visiting two communities and five farms, we headed back to Boaco pleased that the project was such a success and that the participants were enthused and eager to continue the project for a second year.

This year, they would like to construct an additional 22 fuel-efficient stoves, reforest 50 hectares of land with 160,000 more coffee trees, 10,000 shade trees (citrus and timber), and 10,000 cacao trees to benefit 80 more families in three co-operatives. The project also contemplates the construction of 30 worm composting tanks to expedite the process of organic fertilizer production for their farms.

Maria Theresa’s son, Jacobo Jr., asked us if we’d like a sneak preview:

Well, we’re convinced. The sustainable farming practices of small-scale coffee growers is certainly conserving our fragile natural resources and protecting local eco-systems. We see the proof on every visit. And if the farmers are protecting our environment, and providing us with delicious high quality, organic coffee at the same time, it seems like the least we can do is consume consciously and support their efforts. Wouldn’t you agree?

For more information about other ways to support small scale farmers, our food system, and the planet, visit our blog at www.SmallFarmersBigChange.coop.

Remember that as part of our campaign in support of Small Farmers, Equal Exchange is donating 20 cents/package for every 12 oz. package of Organic Love Buzz purchased, into our Small Farmer Green Planet Fund. The Fund supports projects in Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia and South Africa.

Donations are also welcome! You can write a tax-deductible check to Grassroots International and send it to Equal Exchange, 50 United Drive, West Bridgewater, MA 02379 (Be sure to write SFGP Fund on the check) or make a credit card donation by clicking the SFGP logo on the sidebar of the blog.

But most of us who work at Equal Exchange aren’t here simply for that artisanal coffee (tea or chocolate). We’re here because we think about farmer livelihoods and want to work in an industry that values the rights of small farmers to have the same dignified life and opportunities that many of us enjoy. In short, we think high quality coffee is not just desirable in its own right, but when it’s grown and sold through the Fair Trade system, it can also be a powerful tool for economic advancement.

While we place a high value on our farmer partners’ livelihoods, we also know that we all share part of an increasingly fragile planet with a finite amount of resources. Many studies have documented the positive impacts that organic Fair Trade coffee, grown under shade, has on soil and water resources, and on our health. With the awareness of the devastating impact of climate change, the benefit of shade coffee cannot be overstated.

Nor can the value of the diversity of trees that provide shade for coffee be undervalued. Many of our partners are increasing the number of shade trees on their farms; not only does coffee grown under shade taste better, but the trees are beneficial to the soil (live barriers protect against soil erosion and their leaves provide ground cover). In addition, fruit and timber trees are used to diversify diets and provide additional sources of income for farming families.

Last, but by no means least, is the wildlife which takes refuge in the shaded farms. It’s been a while since we’ve focused on the migratory songbirds that delight us in the summertime but need a specific habitat in Mexico and Central America to survive the winters. The following article by Ruth Ann Smalley offers a lovely appreciation for songbirds and a reminder of why and how we need to protect them. It was published in the Schenectady Gazette’s column, Greenpoint, on August 14, 2008. Ruth is an educator and a certified Eden Energy medicine practitioner with a practice in Albany. She’s also an Honest Weight member worker, and writes a monthly column for the coop’s newsletter.

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Listening to the Birds
by Ruth Ann Smiley

After the rains today, the birds began singing in my neighborhood.

The sweet twittering of the goldfinches alerted me just in time to catch a glimpse as three flashed past my porch. In the late afternoon, some passing crows announced themselves, raucously. The street is home to many chickadees, blue jays, house finches, starlings, mourning doves and the occasional catbird, hummingbird and nuthatch. I’ve seen more cardinals displaying their scarlet finery this year than ever before. Lately, we’ve also heard from a couple of particularly vocal woodpeckers. More accustomed to their drumming, I never knew they could scold like that!

The presence of birds and their songs never fails to pull me back into an awareness of the natural world that still surrounds us, even in the midst of an urban landscape. They remind me that while we may have paved over the ground, and chased practically everybody but the squirrels into hiding, there are tiny, vibrant lives being lived out alongside ours. Birds bridge the many layers of our world, treading the ground in search of the worm, and taking flight above our heads, into realms that the child in us still dreams of winging through.

Because of their seasonal habits, birds help connect us with cyclical rhythms. I enjoy marking winter’s progress by spotting the little dark-headed juncos searching through the snow at the foot of the feeder, looking a bit like the bird version of the black and white cookie. In the spring, the bare branches of the towering, dead pine the next street over are inviting to hawks, who sun themselves in the late afternoon rays while surveying the neighborhood.

Birds have another role, as nature’s “indicators” — indicators of the health of our ecosystems. We’ve all heard of the canary in the coal mine, and on a larger scale, migratory songbird health, especially, reflects that of huge swathes of the planet.

This spring, biologist Bridget Stutchbury noted in The New York Times that songbird numbers are dropping in the U.S. because “the birds are being poisoned in their wintering grounds” by pesticides that are “either restricted or banned in the United States.” Increased demand for out of season produce in North America and Europe has prompted huge increases in pesticide use in Latin America. Stutchbury explains that “a single application of a highly toxic pesticide to a field can kill seven to 25 songbirds per acre” and there has been a fivefold increase in the use of pesticides in the past 15 years (You can read her March 30 oped here.)

What can you do to help the songbirds, besides trying to eat local, seasonal produce more of the time? If you are a coffee drinker, you can pay the roughly one and a half cents more per cup and buy fairly traded, certified shade grown coffee. The 2006 documentary film, “Birdsong and Coffee” illustrates how it is a matter of “two countries, one bird,” asserting that there is a “natural connection between farmers, coffee drinkers, and birds.” This is because many of the world’s coffee growers belong to traditional cultures, whose livelihoods are endangered, much as the migratory birds are. The documentary profiles a number of farmers and villages that have been hit hard by the crisis in the coffee market, which, according to Oxfam estimates, affected 125 million people. One of the saddest impacts was the loss of much of the male population, as displaced farmers migrated north in search of work.

Volatile markets pressure small farmers who do stay in the business to try to increase their production by clearing more land, or by switching to other crops that require even more intensive — and destructive — farming methods. But in many areas, fair trade contracts now help promote traditional, organic methods of growing coffee under shade.

This creates habitat for birds, while providing a safety net of sorts for the farmers themselves, as fair trade offers stable prices and premiums. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has found that in some areas, “traditionally managed coffee and cacao plantations support over 150 species of birds,” while the “diversity of birds plummets when coffee is converted from shade to sun. . . . Studies in Colombia and Mexico found 94-97 percent fewer bird species in sun grown coffee.” (For more information, click here.) It is also better for the coffee plants, as, according to the documentary, coffee plants have only an 8-10 year productive life out of the shade, as compared to 25-30 in the shade.

More and more companies are offering fairly traded, organic, shade-grown coffee, and it is becoming more available in stores. Equal Exchange and Dean’s Beans, to name a few, work in close contact with farmer cooperatives, organizations that play an important role in giving the farmers more decision-making power and greater potential to raise their standard of living. For example, in addition to the regular terms of its fair trade contract, Equal Exchange donates 20 cents for each sale of a 12 oz. package of “Organic Love Buzz” coffee to the Small Farmer Green Planet fund. This money goes to farmers in several countries to support their work in “reforestation, organic conversion and environmental protection efforts” (You can read more in the May issue of “Coop Scoop”, Honest Weight Food Co-op’s newsletter.)

If you’re choosing coffee from an unfamiliar roaster, be sure to look for official certification that your coffee was shade grown. The Smithsonian has a Bird Friendly Seal that’s easy to spot, or you may find beans that are Rainforest Alliance Certified.

About the author: Ruth Ann Smalley, Ph.D., is an educator and a certified Eden Energy medicine practitioner with a practice in Albany. She’s also an Honest Weight member worker, and writes a monthly column for the coop’s newsletter.