"I'll take care of it for you" were the words uttered by my friend Cameran's next door neighbor as she departed her home leaving her motorscooter behind. Yet another a reminder that Dominicans are some of the most hospitable people on earth. A culture so utterly hilarious it makes you content with every passing moment.
I will start with an apology as this is my first blog from the DR on the last day of my trip. The reality is... it was as full and exciting as I anticipated, challenging me in new ways to grow personally and professionally. My first week was spent presenting the results of my research to development organizations (USAID) in Santo Domingo, organizing meetings for Vermont Coffee Company with the local coffee association in Jarabacoa, and hosting a focus group with the community at Finca Alta Gracia. Everything came full circle. My lips spoke many promises during my time here which have now all been kept. This was important to me as a researcher.
I am committed to see the processes started on this trip through to fruition. As a result of our meetings there will be significant increases in the purchases of shade organic coffee from the Pico Duarte region. Encouraging farmers with higher prices who practice organic agriculture under shade tree cover should discourage those from abandoning their coffee for high input monoculture crops such as squash and beans. When replicated across the landscape these changes can restore ecosystem function to increase water conservation, reduce soil erosion, provide habitat for birds and provisions of food to households.
Financial transparency in process and diversification of income and consumption will be critical to the sustainability of rural livelihoods and the landscape. 80% of coffee farmer households in the Pico Duarte are food insecure. Tradeoffs exist between day labor and time to produce food crops for consumption. Migration is high, so is the costs of labor and simply providing higher prices for a product is not enough to meet families basic needs. Less than 4% of 161 people surveyed go to college, 21% finished high school and many households lack the basic resources needed to pay for proper medical attention during times of illness. In this multi capital asset approach to the "well-being" of a household we must do more.
In response volunteers at the farm "Fina Alta Gracia" Ria Shroff and Eli Berman along with owners Bill Eichner and Julia Alvarez created a Dominican nonprofit, the Alta Gracia Foundation. The foundation will serve the coffee communities of the Pico Duarte through a variety of social programs from literacy education to agriculture extension and small business micro-finance. A percentage of all coffee proceeds sold under the Cafe Alta Gracia brand will go to the foundation. A partnership between a for-profit business and non-for-profit organization should ensure long term financial stability while allowing for the flexibility to meet local needs and desires.
Returning to the States tomorrow I can only hope that as I start my schedule on Monday I am more cognizant of the social, economic and environmental interconnection of this world. A world where even as I leave for my home more than 2000 miles away I can turn and make one final promise to my Dominican companions, "te lo cuido", I'll take care of it for you...
