Monthly Archives: September 2011

202. CAFE Livelihoods draws to a close

2011-09-30 Comments Off on 202. CAFE Livelihoods draws to a close

Today, the CAFE Livelihoods project that I have been working on in one capacity or another since late 2007 draws to a close.  As we prepare the final project report in the coming weeks, I will share some of the more notable project outcomes here.  Meantime, I want to thank everyone who contributed to the […]

201. Fair Trade USA – FLO split: What does it mean for smallholders?

Comments Off on 201. Fair Trade USA – FLO split: What does it mean for smallholders?

The joint announcement by Fair Trade USA and FLO that the two organizations will be going their separate ways at the end of this year is old news by now.  It is still not entirely clear, however, what the split — and Fair Trade USA’s “Fair Trade for All” initiative, with its promise to “adapt […]

200. The Reporting Collaborative

2011-09-26 Comments Off on 200. The Reporting Collaborative

This month, I have returned to an issue that has been a favorite here: reinvestment in the coffeelands.  Last week, I summarized the results of the SCAA survey on industry giving at origin and mentioned two of the SCAA’s conclusions: most companies “lack a structured approach to giving” and don’t necessarily get all the information […]

199. SCAA survey: How the industry gives

2011-09-21 Comments Off on 199. SCAA survey: How the industry gives

More than a year ago, I received an invitation from the SCAA (along with 4,013 others, it seems) to respond to its “Philanthropic Activity Survey.”  Today, I finally got to see the results, which suggest that the industry and the beneficiaries of its philanthropy may benefit from a more deliberate form of reinvestment in the […]

198. Three principles of “harmonized investment”

2011-09-12 Comments Off on 198. Three principles of “harmonized investment”

A little over a year ago, in a post on industry reinvestment at origin, I raised the prospect of “harmonized investment” — complementary, non-overlapping investments in the coffeelands by diverse actors on the coffee chain.  Recent events have inspired me to revisit the idea.

197. Introducing SROC

2011-09-05 Comments Off on 197. Introducing SROC

Social Return on Investment, or SROI, is a holistic approach to measuring return on investment that goes beyond financial returns to consider also an investment’s social, economic and environmental impacts.  The farmers of the 5 de junio cooperative in Nicaragua, in partnership with the Fabretto Foundation, a local NGO dedicated to promoting food security, seem […]