“The Fairtrade inspectors don´t check every farm and they ask the cooperative workers where they should go... round here the farms are quite bad with environmental targets but the checkers always get taken to the good farms.”
“Our Cooperative has had a Fairtrade certificate since 2005. We are checked every year. Prohibitions include toxic substances and water contamination: you have to have a clean farm. We do know when the inspectors are coming, but they decide which farms they go to”
“Our Cooperative has had a Fairtrade certificate since 2005. We are checked every year. Prohibitions include toxic substances and water contamination: you have to have a clean farm. We do know when the inspectors are coming, but they decide which farms they go to”
"There are still too many middle men"
There are more than two sides to every story aren’t there. I’ve talked to unions of coffee co-ops, co-ops, farmers, coffee cuppers and I’ve even read a book. The facts are that coffee plants produce only once a year, picking is labour intensive for a short period, the processing is many-stepped and fiddly, and life is basic for any coffee farmer here. The opinions are harder to pin down.
One cooperative I spoke to are passionate about the Fairtrade certificate, and even more so despite the current climate where the price on the normal market is actually above the fair trade price. I’ve encountered a lot of short term thinking here in Nicaragua, and this is another example. When you have a Fairtrade certificate you are guaranteed trade year on year, and the price won´t go down. But it doesn´t go up either. So when the price is lower, farmers are sometimes more interested in taking their chances on the normal market. The co-operative is encouraging their farmers to look at the longer term picture involving guaranteed trade and money to spend on education, health etc.
This co-op is spending its Fairtrade premium on supporting the “Casa Materna” – a small building in Yali housing mothers-to-be who are just about to drop their sprogs, meaning its easier for them to stay healthy and be kept an eye on.
That's Mariel in the background, a groovee Peace Corps volunteer who also lives and works in Yali and is incredibly understanding when I have one of my characteristic flip outs.
The Casa Materna means it´s then easier for the women to get to hospital in Jinotega (still 2 hours away) when the time comes. That's the ambulance there, just outside my house.
There are more than two sides to every story aren’t there. I’ve talked to unions of coffee co-ops, co-ops, farmers, coffee cuppers and I’ve even read a book. The facts are that coffee plants produce only once a year, picking is labour intensive for a short period, the processing is many-stepped and fiddly, and life is basic for any coffee farmer here. The opinions are harder to pin down.
One cooperative I spoke to are passionate about the Fairtrade certificate, and even more so despite the current climate where the price on the normal market is actually above the fair trade price. I’ve encountered a lot of short term thinking here in Nicaragua, and this is another example. When you have a Fairtrade certificate you are guaranteed trade year on year, and the price won´t go down. But it doesn´t go up either. So when the price is lower, farmers are sometimes more interested in taking their chances on the normal market. The co-operative is encouraging their farmers to look at the longer term picture involving guaranteed trade and money to spend on education, health etc.
This co-op is spending its Fairtrade premium on supporting the “Casa Materna” – a small building in Yali housing mothers-to-be who are just about to drop their sprogs, meaning its easier for them to stay healthy and be kept an eye on.
That's Mariel in the background, a groovee Peace Corps volunteer who also lives and works in Yali and is incredibly understanding when I have one of my characteristic flip outs.
The Casa Materna means it´s then easier for the women to get to hospital in Jinotega (still 2 hours away) when the time comes. That's the ambulance there, just outside my house.
The co-op have also built bus shelters, useful when rain is heavy and times are vague: they all leave on time, but who can say who or what they’ll have to pick up on the way.
This is also the cooperative that was working on the Beneficio (coffee mill) right at the beginning of my trip that is planning to reuse or recycle all its water, and use the gaseous waste from their composting husks to power the plant. They are hoping to provide 60%of their power in this way next year. Here's a skanky pool of the old water from cleaning the coffee, and then a picture of the mechanism to clean it.
2 comments:
Who is the mystery deleting author... Tis ME! I didn't mean to delete it, I was just trying to edit it.
So. Wow! That's all really interesting. Are the Inspectors from Nica or do they fly in from Fair Trade HQ, where ever that may be?
And how does it all compare to $tarbucks? Interestingly, it took me while to find their social responsibility stuff on their American page (lots of logos, but not the fair trade one, http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/csr.asp) and they have a bizaar page where they distance themselves from the Israli army:
"You may have heard a rumor or seen a web posting linking Howard Schultz and Starbucks with the Israeli Armed Forces. These allegations are false."
But buddy up with the America army:
"You may have heard a rumor concerning Starbucks lack of military personnel support. This is not true. ... Starbucks, our customers, and our partners (employees) respect the efforts of the U.S. men and women who serve their country in the military."
... but only US men and women, yeah?
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/rumor.asp
While the UK page has a link right on the home page to their social responsibility stuff. And stuff about fair trade. But nowhere do they mention that you have to make it yourself if you want fair trade...
Post a Comment