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Meet 3 leading Fairtrade producers at Caffé Culture 24.06.10
Jennipher Wettaka
coffee farmer Uganda
©Simon Rawles
The Fairtrade Foundation is bringing three representatives from Fairtrade regional producer networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America to speak at this year’s three-day Caffé Culture conference in Olympia, London which starts today ( 23 June ).
Silvio Cerda Hernandez , Executive Director of Red-Cafe CLAC, the coffee arm of The Latin American and Carribbean Network of Small Fair Trade Producers(CLAC); coffee farmer Raymond Gitau Wanyugi from the Africa Fairtrade Coffee Network (AFN); and; coffee farmer Iwan Rahmat , Board Member of Network of Asian Producers (NAP) will be talking about Fairtrade as a sustainable development model and the work of their networks at two sessions at the conference on Thursday 24 June (10.30 -11.30 and 2.30 -3.30).
Fairtrade is a sustainable development model that works primarily with small producers’ organisations. The Fairtrade standards comprise social, economic and environmental requirements, which producers must meet to be certified, plus progress requirements that encourage continuous improvement to develop farmers’ organisations. Fairtrade certified farmers are guaranteed a Fairtrade minimum price which defines the lowest possible price that a buyer of Fairtrade products must pay the producer. The minimum price is set based on a consultative process with Fairtrade producers and traders and guarantees that producers receive a price which covers the cost of sustainable production. When the market price is higher than the Fairtrade minimum price, the market price is payable.
Fairtrade certified farmers also receive an additional Fairtrade premium for investment in social projects such water provision, health facilities, roads, education or investment in the business, such as cupping labs, to improve quality control of their coffee beans. Research shows that such projects plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of the community. Use of the Fairtrade premium is decided by a democratically elected Fairtrade premium committee made up both of workers and farmers.
Coffee farmer Raymond Gitau Wanyugi is from the Ndumberi Coffee Co-operative in Central Kenya. The co-operative has 2,000 members and is based in the Kimbo region of Kenya. They grow arabica coffee. Ndumberi have been Fairtrade certified since 2008. They have invested the Fairtrade premium in business projects and social projects such as healthcare, clean water and agricultural training. Raymond has been a coffee farmer for 21 years and has established a coffee quality control laboratory at the co-operative. At 50 years of age he is currently training to be a coffee cupper.
However, where the impact of Fairtrade has been most felt has been on younger people, says Raymond Gitau Wanyugi. ‘Coffee prices were low and the coffee farmers in the region were struggling, so younger people were not keen to follow in their father’s footsteps and be coffee farmers. However Fairtrade has turned this around. With better Fairtrade prices, training programmes and Fairtrade premiums, young people are now coming back to coffee because they see that it can be a profitable business.’
Estimated retail value of Fairtrade coffee grew by 23% to over £60m in the UK in 2009. Last September, Starbucks switched all their expresso-based coffees in the UK and Ireland to Fairtrade and have continued to roll this programme out across Europe. Other out of home outlets who serve Fairtrade include AMT Coffee and Marks & Spencer. Recognition of the FAIRTRADE Mark amongst the British public is at an all time high of 75%.
The largest global volume of Fairtrade coffee comes from Fairtrade certified producers in Latin America. Last year, the volume of Fairtrade coffee topped the 77 million kilogrammes mark. The Fairtrade premium was around £11.5 million shared across 14 countries in the region.
Silvio Cerda Hernandez is Executive Director of Red-Cafe CLAC, a representative and participative association of 184 small producers’ organizations in the region. Red-Cafe CLAC have been working to support capacity building of producer organizations through training in market development and management; consolidating quality control systems; improving the supply chain performance; helping access finance; and; facilitating research to better enable coffee producers to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Silvio says the key objectives of Red-Cafe CLAC is to increase the productivity of existing Fairtrade certified farmers and get more farmers from the region into the Fairtrade system to meet increased global demand for coffee. ‘Red-Café CLAC was set up to represent the interests of small coffee producer organizations. Small farmers are very vulnerable. They receive little support from governments and they fall into the hands of exporters who sell their products at very low prices. Fairtrade as a system can eliminate the intermediaries, and this is an enormous opportunity to increase incomes and improve the quality of farmers’ lives.’
As part of the Fairtrade Foundation’s five-year Tipping the Balance strategy, the organisation is aiming to increase Fairtrade in major product categories to represent over half of consumer purchases. Richard Anstead, the Fairtrade Foundation’s Business Development Manager said: ‘Working with importers, roasters, brand owners, retailers and cafe owners, we want to help consumers in the UK extend and deepen the impact of Fairtrade in communities such as those represented by our three partners visiting Caffe Culture this week.’
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