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THE LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
FAIR TRADE COFFEE PROJECT

Fair-trade cooperatives: a positive alternative

Resilient is a word that Salvadorians use to describe themselves. As they struggle in the current conditions, they are making amazing progress, even with severely limited resources. The coffee farmers have formed cooperative organizations (co-ops) and adopted the philosophy that “more can be accomplished together than separately.” For the coffee farmer today, selling a harvested crop can be tough; in the free market, they may receive as little as 15 cents per pound.

Many have decided to stop picking the ripe beans because the cost of growing, cultivating, and harvesting the crop is more than what the market offers in return. For many, growing coffee is their last hope of survival. “We are poor. We have no possibility of getting a job or a home,” Juan Rojas told our delegation. He continued, “There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no hope for the sixth or seventh generation down the line.”

		This article was originally published in the June 2003 issue of Lutheran Woman Today magazine.

I began to see why the LWR Coffee Project is so vital. The LWR Coffee Project reaches out to communities like Rojas' in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. When purchasing organizations agree to pay a fair price for the product--at least $1.26 per pound of coffee--farmers can not only earn more money for necessary items such as food but can also invest back into the community. Fair trade also encourages the development of longstanding business relationships, provides advance credit so farmers can buy seed and fertilizer, and promotes ecological farming methods. The coffee purchased for the LWR Coffee Project provides a true lifeline from Lutheran coffee buyers to the coffee farmers and their families. It makes it possible for the community to hang on while other issues, such as growing self-sustaining food crops, can be addressed.

The co-ops come together with others to form umbrella groups such as FESACORA and APECAFE. These umbrella organizations provide a central location for managing resources, handling certification, and preparing products for export. By pooling resources, they eliminate duplication of effort and are better able to share information and ideas.

Threats to Success Next>

Questions? Email fairtrade@lwr.org to learn more.

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