At the RENACER coffee school, we promote sustainable farming practices that are proven to increase yields, and we train farmers how to select coffee for quality. All this has led to increased incomes for farmers. Double the yields and double the price, and we quadruple incomes for many farmers. From experience, we know that healthy trees produce […]
Agriculture and trade & finance have a necessary but strained relationship. This is not surprising since trade and finance are often dynamic, short-cycle, growth-oriented ventures, whereas, farming the land to produce food, fiber, and fuel is an arduous labor, seeking incremental gains, requiring patience, and a humble acceptance that the next drought, pest outbreak or […]
‘Why is the specialty coffee price set to the C price and the not cost of production?’ The role of the C price, the coffee commodity price used as a global benchmark,,, has been the subject of much debate for the coffee industry, especially in Specialty Coffee circles. Coffeelands itself has dedicated much ink to the issues […]
The TSIRO (Thriving/Tangible and Sustainable Investments for Land Restoration and Economic Opportunity) Alliance is the first HEARTH award worldwide. HEARTH (Health, Ecosystems and Agriculture for Resilient, Thriving Societies) is a Global Development Alliance where USAID and the private sector work together to develop and implement market-based approaches to solve development challenges. TSIRO is a unique program, bringing development […]
Multiple Uses of Market Monitoring Market monitoring is often considered primarily a humanitarian sector activity, where price and food security information helps identify potential red flags requiring changes to targeting or valuation of cash and voucher assistance or direct food deliver, often built around Minimum Expenditure Baskets. However, market monitoring has a multitude of uses across […]
Time for another quick entry here to spread the word about a recent article on sustainable vanilla production, from GreenBiz.com, entitled “Is sustainable vanilla the flavor of the month?” The article takes a quick look at some of the key issues in vanilla production: eliminating child labor, traceability, and price volatility. Given the low volumes purchased […]
According to USAID, ‘Market Systems Development is a body of international knowledge, guidelines, good practices and lessons learned that provide a more effective, sustainable, and beneficial way for poor people to develop their capacities and improve their lives. Indeed, Market Systems Development has proven a critically important tool for working with markets to better serve the needs of […]
While we often hear about lemurs, vanilla and other spices when talking about Madagascar, we don’t always think about coffee. However, Madagascar has been a long-time producer of coffee – both arabica and robusta which is mainly bought, sold and consumed in local markets. You will find coffee in almost any local market, and usually […]
Building on Dan McQuillan’s Coffeelands Blog series on issues surrounding farm profitability, I want to shift a bit to the world of Cacao and highlight some work coming out of CRS’ Allianza Cacao program in El Salvador. Agroforestry approaches, increasingly promoted globally, present a complex set of challenges for evaluation – with so many interrelated variables, what is the […]
The recently released Enduring Results Study 3.0 led by CRS takes on a task that few projects have the luxury of doing – it takes a retrospective look at project outcomes two years after funding has ended to evaluate drivers of sustainability and scale. Drawn from 29 USAID partnerships with the private sector, the ERS 3.0 is […]