How Fair Trade Helped a Coffee Farmer Turn His Beans Around
Adrian Arauz is a founding member of CECOSEMAC , a Fair Trade coffee cooperative made up of 250 coffee farmers established with the help of CRS Nicaragua about seven years ago. In 2002 when he became involved with CRS, Adrian’s coffee did not qualify for organic or Fair Trade certification. The coffee was sold at whatever price offered by local buyers. Today, thanks to his hard work and CRS’s technical assistance, Adrian’s coffee is not only certified as organic and fair trade, but he has come close to doubling the amount of acreage he cultivates each year.
What made the difference? Adrian learned to incorporate better production techniques, such as shade farming, and how to assess the quality of his coffee. By using a community coffee lab built to score and rank coffee beans—a facility provided through the CRS Fair Trade Fund–Adrian now knows the value his coffee beans should bring in the marketplace. These days Adrian’s coffee beans consistently score between 80 and 89 points on a100 point scale.
President Adrian Arauz, pictured here in May 2007 on the first day of the Specialty Coffee Association meeting in Long Beach, Ca, called it “an incredible experience.”
Adrian also changed how he sells his coffee. No longer does he sell to local buyers, whose prices tend to be much lower due to a complicated supply chain, but rather sells 100 percent of his coffee to Fair Trade export markets. Through the CECOSEMAC cooperative, Adrian is able to reach companies such as CRS Fair Trade partners Larry’s Beans and Peace Coffee. Adrian reports that his family income is significantly more because he receives a better price for improved coffee. Like hundreds of other farmers, Adrian has established contact with many new buyers through his participation in CECOSEMAC and thanks to CRS’s commitment to fair and sustainable market access.
JCU’s Fair Trade Campus Movement Does it Right
The rewards of being a fair trade student activist far outweigh the hard work of planning events, negotiating purchasing agreements and orchestrating a college-wide awareness campaign. In fact, for a handful of students of John Carroll University (JCU) in Ohio, the years they’ve served as Fair Trade Student Organizer Interns have given them a resume filled with marketable skills, real-life experiences and an impressive list of accomplishments.
Above all, being a campus leader of JCU’s fair trade movement has brought personal satisfaction and connected each student’s personal faith to a tangible social justice cause.
“In just three years I can see the change,” says Natalie Terry who as a sophomore was part of the first group of fair trade interns. “We started with most people not knowing anything about fair trade to people all over campus being excited and knowledgeable about fair trade principles.”
The interns used a variety of ways to increase awareness of economic fairness and interest in fair trade products. One of the most popular and effective ways they found is through taste. Tapping into a wide variety of venues during the school year, the interns sold fresh brewed fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate and snacks at events and organized special product tastings. Soon fair trade treats became the expectation at JCU events. The interns moved on from tastings to hosting a “Gifts that Give Twice” holiday fair trade sale, and in the spring they rolled out the red carpet for a fair trade fashion photo shoot using faculty and students as models.
Their next steps went beyond events and embraced opportunities to bring fair trade into the regular business of the school. The interns are in dialogue with the campus book store and student organizations about changing their purchasing practices to adopt tee-shirts and athletic garments from sweatshop-free manufacturers. JCU’s dining services provider has already committed to brewing 100% fair trade coffee. Then, the student government stepped up and passed legislation to ensure the fair trade coffee commitment is fulfilled over the long term even if another vendor wins JCU’s dining hall contract in the future.
The world of fair trade is extensive and a key benefit of the Fair Trade Organizer Internship is making connections with other people who care about Fair Trade.
Last year, JCU’s interns participated in the United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) International Convergence where they connected with hundreds of student advocates from around the country and attended workshops led by representatives of several sewing and farm cooperatives in Latin America. This was great preparation for a week-long visit to Nicaragua where the students were immersed in the culture and work of their hosts.
For seven days students worked on farms, stayed with families in rural and urban parts of Nicaragua and became fluent in the day-to-day responsibilities of fair trade producers. Natalie notes, “”Spending time in Nicaragua gave us the tools to understand Fair Trade and international trade policy at a deeper level. Most importantly it gave us the opportunity to meet small farmers who are the heart of the Fair Trade Movement. In hearing their stories we were empowered to work to bridge the gap between our communities and to know Fair Trade as a change in lifestyle.”
Looking forward to this fall, the students are getting ready for the Ohio Fair Trade Expo which will take place at JCU in September 2009. Students from across the state are expected to participate in an exciting venue of speakers, hands-on exhibits and product demonstrations.
JCU’s fair trade student organizer internship program is overseen by the Coordinator of Social Justice Initiatives in the office of Campus Ministry and was made possible by an “In the Marketplace” grant from CRS’ Fair Trade Fund. The grant fills a need to foster long-term advances in the fair trade movement on campus and to help students develop organizing skills they can use in other types of faith-based campaigns while strengthening students’ connections between their faith and social justice.
“Our faith calls us to be engaged in Fair Trade as an issue of social justice,” says Christopher Kerr the program’s coordinator. “Fair Trade has allowed our interns to actively engage their peers in the implicit relationship between faith and justice. Simultaneously they’ve strengthened their own commitment to promoting human dignity for each person. We are excited they will take this spirit beyond John Carroll as they graduate!”
