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Coffee

Photo credit: Olaf Hammelburg
Regions: 
Andes
Central America
East & Central Africa
South & South-East Asia
South America
Southern Africa
The Netherlands
Contact: 
Niels van Heeren

Coffee is produced in more than fifty developing countries and makes an important contribution to the social and economic development of millions of farmers and workers – but many smallholdings are still unprofitable and produce coffee unsustainably. Raising yields and quality as well as achieving certification are hampered by limited knowledge of agricultural practices. If taught properly, farmers can easily produce coffee responsibly and earn higher incomes. The challenge is to educate trainers and farmers more effectively.

Just 16% of all coffee is certified. Because this is grown by the best farmers, greater investments in time and infrastructure will be needed to encourage the remainder to produce sustainably and bring them up to standard for certification. We therefore urge the coffee industry to co-invest in this improvement to meet the rapidly growing demand for certified coffee. Solidaridad can play a key role in building lasting relations between the private sector and farmers to stimulate rural development.

Coffee programme: innovative techniques and initiatives

Solidaridad founded the Max Havelaar label in 1988, has supported Utz Certified since its launch in the Netherlands in 2002, and has helped many farmers to implement sustainability standards. Over the years Solidaridad has established close working relations with over 200 coffee boards, exporters and producer organizations, and has trained over 550 trainers. Since 2006, Solidaridad has enabled more than 100,000 smallholders to improve their farming methods and achieve certification. They have increased crop quality and yields, improved working conditions and seen their incomes rise.
 
Our effective and cost-efficient support model guides farmers in making a smooth transition to sustainable farming and certification. The model combines market requirements with farmers’ direct priorities. The step-bystep approach focuses on a few key issues at a time and generates income early in the process, motivating farmers to continue to make improvements. The model consists of a training website with e-learning courses, materials and methods, as well as practical workshops for trainers. 
 
Solidaridad’s coffee programme of smart and sustainable land use also includes innovative projects on adapting to climate change, the biobased economy and efficient use of water, energy and waste.
 

Impact: from niche market to mainstream market

The market for sustainable coffee has been transformed from a niche market into a mainstream market with sales of over 600,000 tonnes per year (8% of global consumption). Utz Certified, with support from Solidaridad, has been instrumental in expanding this market, largely in cooperation with important coffee buyers and brands such as Sara Lee, Ahold, Migros and Ikea. 
 

History and prospects of the coffee programme

 Start of the coffee programme:

1982

Main achievements 2006–2011:

550 trained trainers, 200+ organizations, 100,000+ certified farmers in 20 countries, a complete set of training materials in 4 languages

Main issues:

low income and poverty, productivity/quality, knowledge and skills of farmers, training methodology, access to credits, social and environmental sustainability

Countries:

Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia

Partners: 

National Coffee Federation of Colombia, ECOM, Neumann Gruppe, DE Foundation (Sara Lee), SNV, Utz Certified, local exporters, cooperatives, coffee boards and government in producing countries

Donors:

Irish Aid, PSO, EU, Hivos, MFS/Dutch Government 

Outlook

In the next five years we focus on:
• increasing cooperation with stakeholders to raise the volume of certified coffee;
• rolling out a practical support model that focuses on farmers’ priorities and understanding;
• integrating farmer support in the local sector with leading stakeholders;
• innovative models for the biobased economy and adapting to climate change;
• virtual and in-person exchange of experiences between trainers and experts in the field;
• developing monitoring and evaluation instruments to demonstrate impact.

New partnerships

We are looking for partners to co-invest in:
• pilot projects for rolling out a farmer support model for mainstream sustainability standards;
• innovative projects for the biobased economy and adapting to climate change;
• frequent national and international technical workshops for training of trainers (TOT); 
• continuous improvement of training materials and methodology;
• integrating capacity building into national sectors in producing countries;
• a virtual network of knowledge, e-learning courses and experience exchange
Contact Niels van Heeren for more information

Cases

Centres demonstrate sustainability

The global demand for UTZ CERTIFIED coffee is increasing. Centres of Excellence in Kenya assist smallholders to take full advantage of the  demand.

Market segment certified coffee increases

Through PROCASO, a producer support programme, the amount of certified coffee has increased from a few percentages up to 20% of the total coffee export of Honduras (2010).

We offer

Solidaridad aims at a sustainable and fair coffee chain, from farmer to consumer. The organization consists of a worldwide network of regional expertise centres and cooperates with local organizations. Together we deliver the following services:

Our services in the Coffee programme

  • Training trainers of farmers in farming techniques that have less negative impact on people and the environment, lead to better quality and higher yields and comply with sustainability standards.
  • Assisting producer organizations to get access to inputs, finance and markets.
  • Supporting agricultural producer organizations and industrial producer companies to qualify for social and environmental certification standards.
  • Influencing policy on a national and international level, both in the public and private sector, in cooperation with other stakeholders using our knowledge, experience and views on sustainable economic development and corporate social responsibility.
  • Setting up innovative projects in the field of:
    - biodiversity and crop diversification to reduce the dependence of the farmers on volatile export markets and create more food security
    - more efficient and environmental friendly use of waste products, water and energy
    - payment for environmental services such as Carbon Credits and CO2 sequestration, which helps farmers to improve the environment and create additional income.
  • Developing training tools based on successful experiences, that are rolled out worldwide through a network of trained agronomists.

Results

Some of the key results in Solidaridad's Coffee programme:

  •  More than 100.000 smallholders were trained in sustainable coffee production, leading to larger yields and improved quality and in the end to increased incomes.
  • Solidaridad is the founder and initiator of several important sustainable coffee labels such as Max Havelaar (1988), FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organization, 1997) and Foundation UTZ Kapeh (2002, currently UTZ CERTIFIED).  
  • 364.000 MT of coffee was UTZ CERTIFIED and 82.000 tonnes of UTZ CERTFIED coffee was sold in 2009, which shows a decent acceptance of UTZ coffee globally.
  • An extensive network of trained agronomists (TA's) has been set up, consisting of more than 100 TA’s involved in coffee projects supported by Solidaridad and 500+ trained worldwide.
  • New projects focussed at access to finance, waste valorisation and climate change have been set up in Nicaragua and Honduras.