The most important divide in the discussion around coffee and development is the gap between coffee chain issues (productivity, quality, etc.) and issues that arise from beyond the coffee chain. The issue that bridges the gap? The price companies pay for their coffee.
In my last post, I shared some reflections on my recent discussions with diverse coffee industry stakeholders regarding the ways coffee companies are investing at origin. I did not mean to suggest that coffee companies are struggling to find their way while established development agencies like ours have it all figured out. In fact, even […]
As I have made my way around the coffeelands this year, I have been struck among other things by the vibrant colors I saw in the ripe cherries, brightly-painted infrastructure and hand-lettered signs, among other places. Here are some images of the colores de café in Mesoamerica.
Over the the past few months, I have found myself talking with a broad range of stakeholders in the specialty coffee industry about how coffee companies are investing at origin. Here are some reflections on what I am hearing in those discussions and seeing in the field, and some ideas about the directions in which industry engagement in the coffeelands may be moving.
We have partnering with CIAT (the International Center for Tropical Agriculture) to implement a climate change adaptation project with funding from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Coffee Under Pressure: Climate Change and Adaptation in Mesoamerica (or CUP for short) is helping farmers assess their own vulnerability to climate change and adapt to changing conditions on the ground. We also hope this modest project can show a way forward in the ongoing search for cost-effective, scalable ways to bring actionable climate change research to smallholder farmers.
I met at SCAA with Thanksgiving Coffee President Ben Corey-Moran, who explained that the company will be focusing more moving forward on its “core business model.” As it turns out, his concept of the company’s core business model includes innovative partnerships with NGOs in East Africa to create incentives for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation. It seems the concept of the “core business model” in the coffee industry may be evolving.
The Juan Ana Coffee project in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala, is beautiful in more ways than you can count, beginning with its name. “Juan” was John, the late father of Fr. Gregory Shaffer, pastor of the San Lucas Mission for the past 45 years. “Ana” was Ann, Fr. Greg’s mother. They both passed away at […]
In San Lucas Tolimán, on the shores of the breathtaking Lake Atitlán, there is a very special mission parish, led by a very special priest — Father Greg Schaffer of the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, known affectionately here as Padre Gregorio. It is so special, we decided to have our son George baptized there.
A number of people who attended the Hunger in the Coffeelands panel at SCAA on Saturday asked for a copy of my presentation. Here it is.
When I recently tried to summarize SCAA for CRS staff and partners in the coffeelands, I realized just what a circus SCAA really is! That’s why we asked our CAFE Livelihoods partner Cooperative Coffees to help us create a farmer’s guide to the event.