Confronting the Coffee Crisis

In response to a talk I gave Carra Lee posted a nice blog entry in hopes to inform those back home. Check it out. http://CosmicCowPie.com/

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Confronting The Coffee Crises:

On our way to Brazil, the largest coffee exporter in the world, we had the opportunity to listen to Lee Gross explain his Masters research on small scale coffee production in the Dominican Republic. We are traveling down the Amazon River on the ML Explorer with the Spring 2011 Semester At Sea voyage learning new concepts from the theme: Thinking Globally to Acting Locally on a daily basis.


Lee Gross sharing research on Spring 2011 Semester At Sea
The information Lee shared was really an awakening for me to really embrace the concept of supporting “Certified Fair Trade” products.

I must admit I have been on the outside looking in with really understanding the importance of using my consumer dollar to support the environment and small scale farming families. Lee’s presentation “connected the dots” for me in understanding why we should buy “Certified Fair Trade” products.
Interesting facts about coffee production:
• 25 million families are “sustained” by coffee and its connected production products
• Shade grown coffee helps with soil conservation, provides habitat for bird life and consumptive fruits to families
• Brazil produces 1/3 of the world’s coffee
• Small production farms would be the size of a backyard in an American subdivision.
• Coffee is handpicked by millions of laborers and grows in remote mountainous areas. The largest cost to bring the coffee to market is the transportation by mule to the cooperative and export overseas
• Coffee is harvested only one time a year which creates a cash flow problem for small farmers
• Coffee is the 2nd most traded commodity in the world behind OIL
• Most small coffee growers receive $1 to $1.40 per pound
• President John F. Kennedy started the ICA International Coffee Agreement regulating coffee prices
• In 1989 the ICA was terminated which has resulted in an extremely volatile coffee market
• It takes 5-7 years from planting a coffee tree to harvest
• Farmers have all the risk with weather, disease and pests
• 63% of the coffee market is controlled by 5 big corporations: ie. Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Nestles, Tchibo. who in 2001 at the heart of the coffee crisis experienced significant earnings
• Coffee can be differentiated through specialty coffee organizations, which purchase the highest quality coffee i.e. Starbucks, Green Mountain, Cooperative Coffees, Peats Coffee. Coffee can also be differentiated by purchasing single origin coffees
• Fair Trade is a certification, which ensures that farmers are paid a minimum price ($1.38-$1.50) plus a social premium for good practices, democracy in organization and additional premiums for organic production. Coffee by any roaster can be Fair Trade certified
• Certified Fair Trades growers have to produce products under specific condition to obtain the certification
• Many developing countries spend more in military expenses than in the education of their people
• There is no incentive to grow organic so only the consumer can help the farmers by paying more for certified products
• Organic certifications certify the productions method
• Fair Trade certifications certify the process of trade (i.e. labor practices, minimum price, transparency, etc.
• Many farmers do not have title to their land and cannot obtain loans
How can you help make a difference in supporting small farmers? Follow the links below for a cliff note lesson!

1. Read about the Certified Fair Trade products, Specialty Coffees and Relationship Coffees. Don’t buy coffee in a can. Know where it comes from and that workers were paid a fair price. Buy certified and single origin coffees. Be a conscious consumer, your dollar speaks!

2. Be willing to pay more to help the environment and sustainability of the world. Support companies who can ensure transparency in process, social and environmental best practices.
3. Learn more about injustice happening everywhere and share with your friends.


Coffee bean sorting
When I posted information about the class and helping small coffee growers on facebook the first person to comment was my friend Sadie Harris from France. She has been buying Certified Fair Trade products for years and makes a conscious effort to support the movement. Many Europeans are acutely aware of how this impacts the world. Traveling around the world, learning from educators in all fields of sustainability is certainly helping me connect more dots! We are taking the global lessons and applying them to our local practices!

One person DOES make a difference and if that person shares with one other person who becomes aware of the environment and injustice then modifies their buying behavior the world can change. Remember to Buy Certified Fair Trade Products!

I am excited to hear back from you! Read all the links and then let us know how it touched your life and what you are doing to share?

This post took days to finish with the bad Internet connection so thank you for your patience! More to come Connecting The Dots Around The World! Be sure to check out the contest to visit one of the seven wonders of the world!

My Semester at Sea

The blogging has begun. First, a thanks to all who supported me to make this trip possible. The first few weeks have been busy with orientations, lectures and getting my sea legs. Leaving the Caribbean island country of Dominica offers time to reflect on the week behind. For those of you I forgot to say goodbye to, allow me to explain that I have joined the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program’s faculty as an interport lecturer with my friend Andrew Briggs. Andrew and I are here to share our global development experience. Andrew is an alumni of the program and has since gone on to found, Freedom in Creation (FIC), a nonprofit working with war afflicted children in northern Uganda through art as therapy, water development and education. I’ve supported Andrew for a number of years, now as a board member, while continuing my own work with coffee farming communities and conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Semester at Sea is truly a one of a kind study abroad opportunity. Our contribution as lecturers will be to provide students with some real world applications for their theoretical studies as they circumnavigate the globe on this four-month journey. Our travels over the next month will take us from The Bahamas to Cape town, South Africa via Dominica, Brazil and Ghana. After our arrival in Cape Town on February 23rd Andrew and I will fly to Uganda where we will spend two months supporting FIC's programs in Gulu.

Small is Beautiful in Amsterdam

On my way to Amsterdam I read “Small is Beautiful” by German economist E.F. Schumacher. Schumacher says,

"from an economic point of view the central concept of wisdom is permanence. Nothing makes economic sense unless its continuance for a long time can be projected without running into absurdities."

Now biking through the streets of Amsterdam I can only ponder it's wisdom in urban design. Separate lanes full of bikers and pedestrians, buses and trams, few cars and tight narrow boat canals for channeling people rapidly through this bustling city of hashish, art, food and amusement. As an American I am humbled by the wisdom of European life which has for centuries allowed its proliferation from a limited natural resource base. There is no denying European expansion beyond its boundaries for needs, but out of this scarcity has come conservation, or a "wiser use of resources." I think about our global society, one pushing the very thresholds of its planetary confines. But do we see it as such? Schumacher pronounces,

“ that the cultivation and expansion of needs is the antithesis of wisdom. It is also the antithesis of freedom and peace. Every increase of needs tends to increase one's dependence on outside forces over which one cannot have control, and therefore increases existential fear. Only by a reduction of needs can one promote a genuine reduction in those tensions which are the ultimate causes of strife and war.”

In America we have much to learn from history and from our mother Europe, a much wiser and older continent. I feel as if we are a stubborn child that first must fall down and cry before being picked up, brushed off and patted forward in the right direction. I pray we are fast learners. As a global society we need collective agreement on planetary boundaries and a renewed focus on the production from local resources for local needs for the peace, prosperity and permanence of civilization.

Te lo cuido

"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...

The help that Haiti needs.

The ONE campaign has started a debt cancellation petition addressed to the US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. I know many of you have been supportive of the Jubilee Movement in Africa and understand the role of debt incurring international loans, not project specific grants for development.

Haiti's financial and ecological debt serve its greatest challenge in the years ahead. As millions of dollars in relief pour into Haiti in the coming weeks and months debt cancellation is an option that should be explored as part of aid packages to chart a long-term vision for Haiti's future.

Authors Jared Diamond in "Collapse" and Tracy Kidder in "Mountain beyond Mountains" present excellent biographies of Hiati's political and ecological history. Haiti's current state is strongly tied to its exhausted resource base as a result of colonization by the French, strong private property rights based on subsistance farming and corrupt political dictatorships in recent decades.

A new course for Haiti's recovery should be supportive of programs that address the link between sustainable resource management, human health and well-being. There are a number of organizations working on these fronts such as Partners in Health, TREES for the Future, Oxfam International and the United Nations Development Programme.

I am constantly reminded of Wangari Mathai's quote from above, "Suppressed, hungry and poverty stricken people are not concerned by environmental degradation even though they are the first victims of environmental degradation." The people of Haiti live in constant recognition of this truth in their daily struggle for survival. International response to alleviate the short term suffering of natural disasters while meeting long term goals to develop, improve governance, political stability, and meet basic human rights (food, education, sanitation) serve the greatest challenge of this new decade. Haiti is long overdue for such a concerted international response. How will we respond?

Dominican Republic Coffee Video

Video

Gund Institute presents CRF-sponsored research at ESA meeting

http://conservationresearch.wordpress.com/

Lee Gross of the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics recently presented a poster at the Ecological Society of America’s Millennium Conference on “Water-Ecosystem Services, Drought and Environmental Justice” in Athens, Georgia. Results from a year-long study, supported by the Conservation and Research Foundation, were presented on the relationship between ecosystem services conservation and farmer livelihoods in the Pico Duarte coffee region of the Dominican Republic. Community partners included Finca Alta Gracia, IDIAF (a Dominican agroforestry research institute), and the 160 member Association of Coffee Producers in Jarabacoa (ASCAJA). Baseline information on livelihoods, farm biodiversity and agroecological management was collected through household surveys, community focus groups and farm biodiversity transects from 43 households in 7 communities. Preliminary findings suggest that smallholder farms under shade and organic management yielded significant levels of native tree and fruit species biodiversity compared to that of larger producers. Integrated strategies to support smallholder farmers who practice ecosystem service conservation (e.g., provision of fresh water, biodiversity protection, and carbon sequestration) are being evaluated. For more detailed information on this project see the Eco-Index.

"For whom will I walk and advocate?"

For those of us engaged in community development, either as a humanitarian, environmentalist, or both it serves us well to remind ourselves why we do what we do. To ask the tough questions. Amongst all the travel, new relationships and beautiful landscapes are we using our time and talents to the greatest possible benefit? I thought this review of a recent speech given by a friend of mine, Andrew Briggs captured the idea of why we serve and an important question for many of us as we try to impact this world for the better.

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I had an opportunity to hear Mr. Andrew Briggs speak during “The Freedom in Creation” exhibit at Queens University on September 30th 2009. What a privilege it was to meet this gentle, humble man. Andrew began by emphasizing the importance of getting involved as a community, and how rewarding it can be to be a part of a humanitarian service project. Andrew’s journey started with short-term service projects that made him feel “self indulgent.” He soon began to desire a greater sense of world view in ways he hadn’t experienced before. He felt the service projects were a tremendous blessing, but when he began walking with “one community,” his blessings increased with a sense of responsibility and empowerment to go long term. Therefore, he asked himself this important question: “For whom will I walk and advocate”.

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410068979

Smallholder Shade Coffee Farmer Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services Conservation in the Pico Duarte Region of the Dominican Republic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOBbll_-WS4

A short trailer from our documentary footage on the lives of shade coffee farmers in the Dominican Republic. More to come. Special thanks to Michael Skillikorn for putting this all together!

Pictured: Arelies, secretary of the Jarabacoa coffee association (ASCAJA)
Freddy Montoya, member of ASCAJA
Jose Cruz, member of ASCAJA

Se vende: Cafe Dominicana

After a summer's worth of research, memories and new friendships the time has come to go home. Instantly, 2 months compressed into a flicker of memories and hundreds of pages of questionnaires in my backpack. Undoubtedly this next year will lend much time for reflection as I complete my master's degree in Vermont.

Over the past two weeks I've had the pleasure of hosting my brother and Dad here in the DR, showing them my work and discussing with them some of my preliminary findings. The truth is overwhelming, as the majority of coffee farmers I interviewed are struggling to hold on to their farms and meet their families basic food necessities as they compete in a global commodity market second that only to oil. Despite these challenges, Dominicans have been producing incredibly rich coffees for more than three generations.

On an uplifting note I am confident that my research at the community level will make a difference as much help is on the way through external investment, BUT I WANT TO DO MORE. So following an afternoon conversation with my brother, we decided we would purchase some coffee, paying double the price, but offering the ability to connect our friends and family in the States with farmers directly here in the Dominican Republic. After all, over the course of the summer I've had a number of friends contact me about bringing some of those magical beans home to them and there are some exemplary alternative trade networks out there to follow including one started by my professor, Ernesto Mendez during his time at UC Santa Cruz.

All coffee is whole bean, shade grown at altitudes of 800 meters or more; pulped, dried and roasted at the ASCAJA association factory in Jarabacoa, DR. Coffees may be purchased at the prices below, future supply will be dependent upon initial demand.

Shipped to your home:

$12.99 lb Organic
&11.99 lb Conventional

Burlington or Atlanta Area available for pickup

$11 lb Organic
&10 lb Conventional

Quantity is limited, please contact me directly at: leehgross@gmail or my brother Parker in the Atlanta area at: hoyasoccer15@gmail.com. Checks for purchase should be mailed to:

Lee H. Gross
41 Lakeview Terrace
Burlington, VT 05401

Biodiversity Transects

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=122cc8ee67cd998c&mt=application%2Fpdf&pli=1

Pushing forward

With about three weeks to go, the fatigue has started to set in, both physical and mental. This past week was full of events from the new volunteers Ria and Eli's arrival to the old volunteers Meghan and Dylan's departure, lots of arrangements, parties and transport. But not much in terms of progress on my research. I've come to understand, that's just the way things work round here and having patience with so little time left is frustrating. Its really different being here both as a researcher and not as a volunteer, and as an "older" individual compared to the others who are just out of undergrad or even younger in the community. Many times as much I'd love to hangout (and believe me Dominicans love to hangout) with everyone I find myself needing to read, organize my data, or head down to town for email. Long story short, it takes more time to really invest in people AND a project than I have in my short 3 months. For example, I can't tell you how many farmers I've interviewed that on my way out all I could think about was how much I wanted to return one day and work in the fields with that guy. Regardless, even with all the distractions and frustrations life has been full of beautiful scenery and relationships. Estoy contento.

To date, we've interviewed about 43 households, a fabulous sampling of farmers throughout the region, the crux is returning to at least 20 of them in the coming two weeks for a sample of coffee farm biodiversity. I'm hoping to hire a couple of folks from the farm in addition to the graduate student forester from Canada, Alex I was able to acquire.

Today was HOT so we spent most of it at the river watching the boys of El Dulce play El Manguito in a best three out of five baseball tournament. My brother comes on Saturday and Dad the week thereafter. I'm stoked to see and share with them. The plan is to continue to work really hard until then, accomplish what can be accomplished, make my recommendations to the coffee associations, and then chill for the remainder of my time. Back to Vermont end of the month with lots to do before school starts. Hope that summer rain has succeeded I'm ready for a short canoe trip and backyard bbq.

2nd and 3rd week of surveying

The past few weeks have been full of long days with new people and places. Most surprising has been the diversity of the landscape within the Pico Duarte watershed where I live. Our first stop was La Pelada, a true mountain coffee community of third generation farmers tucked into a narrow lush tropical valley. After a half hour of driving up a rocky road our journey ended at the river where we then walked the rest of the way on foot. Once arriving farmers where eager to talk with us, even lining up at some points to share their stories, hardships and to inquire as to why exactly we were there and what we were doing. This community had lots of exposure to foreign assistance, some programs I was aware of and some I was not. It was here I realized the importance of understanding the historical context of development in a region beforehand. Some had harsh sentiments towards previous development programs, while others were pleased with assistance and in the post harvest month of July all had time to talk about it.

In La Pelada efforts had included building a "beneficio" or coffee pulping and drying facility and helping farmers transition to full organic certification. The problem now was that the funding had ended and production yields had dropped. Furthermore, the price farmers were receiving for their organic coffee just wasn't enough to cover the extra labor and production costs of producing it. Labor in the DR is relatively expensive $9 a day compared to other tropical countries (eg. Nicaragua or El Salvador) growing coffee. Most households in La Pelada had one or more members working for a private community of millionaire homes called "quintal del bosque" at the bottom of the hill. Without this other source of income, most families had packed up and moved into the city of Jarabacoa, abandoning their coffee farms for day labor in the city.

The end of our second week was spent in the adjacent valley of La Lomita. Similar stories abounded, many had abandoned their coffee for environmentally destructive monoculture crops, like tayota squash which fetches a higher price in the market and provids year round income for the family in contrast to the once a year income earned from coffee. This will be a strong focus of my research in the coming year, how to save the coffee farmers of the central cordillera from these kinds of economic pressures. Diverse coffee landscapes offer a bundle of ecosystem services to both the household and broader landscape. My research will support this argument in the DR, then seek to analyze and provide recommendations for improving the coffee value chain and development assistance for small to medium producers.

After two weeks of surveying I decided it was time to take a break. I had heard from some friends that the most beautiful beaches in the DR were those of the southwestern province of Pedernales where my friend Nathaly was doing climate change surveying with communities around Lago Erinquillo. Nathaly and I agreed to meet up in the coastal town of Barahona, rent a car then drive out to Bahia de las Aguilas, supposedly THE most beautiful undeveloped beach. This was no lie, stunning it was and just the break I needed. On our way out to Pedernales we ran into a guide who had been working with my friend Chuck on bicknell thrush research in the southeast. He asked us if we knew about the cave and then proceeded to take us on a half kilometer walk into the shrub until we reach a cave full of ancient Taino pictographs. Check out the photos. Our hostel in Pedernales, Dona Chona, was a researchers heaven, wireless internet with a tropical plant shaded courtyard. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better... our second day Nathaly and I were dropped off on a deserted beach with three ladies from Spain and a cooler full of "frias." Que dura es esta vida!

Alright, some deliverables I completed the focus group summary document for all you rural livelihood geeks. I believe you'll find this 15 page summary very interesting. The focus group painted a socioeconomic picture of households in the region and provided a great way of introducing both myself and the research to the community. Also here are the pictures from the past two weeks. Dylan and Meghan the two volunteers that have been on the farm with me all summer leave this week, so its bitter sweet and a sign that summers moving by quickly. SO much more to do, but I'm looking forward to the Vermont fall. peace and love, Lee

PICTURES
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=leehgross&target=ALBUM&id=5359808039979823457&authkey=Gv1sRgCO3ep_OHx4SXHw&feat=email

FOCUS GROUP SUMMARY
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.b2289507-a5b1-41f9-b8fb-f42266575352&hl=en

First week of surveying

First week we managed to interview nine households in three days in some of the most remote coffee country in the Central Cordillera!! Hours driving up degraded gravel roads through small communities stopping to ask each person we passed where the next coffee farmer on our list lived. "Perdon doña Ud. sabe donde vive el Señor Juan Jose Baseo Valerio?"

Our journey started in the valley of Jumunuco with its rolling fields of beans and pastor for cattle. As we drove onwards and upwards the fields quickly faded behind us to a pine, guama, banana and robust green caturra coffee plant dominated landscape as we entered Los Montansos, a small community of isolated third generation coffee farmers for our final interviews of the week. Next week, we'll move to the communities of La Pelada and La Lomita in our valley both of which are in transition to complete organic certification a contrast to the full conventional farms of the week before.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=leehgross&target=ALBUM&id=5354994042078485617&authkey=Gv1sRgCMP23pf-zZWcAQ&feat=email

Only in the DR