1. Coffee, Fair Trade, & Justice for Farmers in the Global South
A Cup of Justice
Coffee, Fair Trade, & Justice for Farmers in the Global South

2. The third most valuable item traded internationally.
Coffee
The third most valuable item traded internationally.
Fairtrade Foundation, Spilling the Beans on the Coffee Trade, London: Fairtrade Foundation, 2002, p. 4. Photo of coffee tree by Cindi Young.

3. Americans Like Their Coffee
Worldwide, people drink over 1½ billion cups of coffee a day.
The U.S., with just one-twentieth of the world’s population, consumes one-fifth of all the coffee.
Dicum, Gregory and Nina Luttinger, The Coffee Book, New York: New Press, 1999, p. ix.
International Coffee Organization (>1.5 bil cups /day)
Photo:

4. Coffee is grown in some 80 countries
Coffee-growing countries are located fairly near the equator and generally are quite poor. The largest producers are shown in yellow on the map.
Dicum and Luttinger, p. 38.
Map from National Geographic at

5. Coffee is Grown on Small Farms
About 70% of the world’s coffee is grown on farms of less than 25 acres.
Most are between 2½ and 12½ acres.
In Mexico, 90% of coffee is grown on small plots.
Murray, Douglas L., Laura T. Raynolds, and Peter Leigh Taylor, One Cup at A Time: Poverty Alleviation and Fair Trade Coffee in Latin America. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University Fair Trade Research Group, 2003, p. 3. (25 acres)
Oxfam International, Mugged: Poverty in your Coffee Cup, Oxford, GB, 2002:
Oxfam, p. 7. (2.5 and 12.5 acres)
Dicum and Luttinger, p. 51. (Mexico)
Photo by Cindi Young.

6. Many Small Farm Families Depend on Coffee
Worldwide, 20 to 25 million small farm households,
some 125 million people, depend on coffee for their livelihoods.
Nicaragua
Murray, Raynolds, and Taylor, 2003, p. 3. (125 million people); Oxfam, 2002, page 7, and United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2005, New York: UNDP, 2005, p.139 (20-25 million households).
Costa Rica
Ethiopia

7. Farmers Get Only a Small Share of the Price Consumers Pay
From tree to supermarket, coffee changes hands up to 150 times with costs and profits added at each step.
FairTrade Foundation, 2002, p. 4.
Ponte, Stefano, “The ‘Latte Revolution’? Winners and Losers in the Restructuring of the Global Coffee Marketing Chain,” Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2001, p (Chart)

8. Small coffee farmers receive 1% or less of the price of a cup of coffee sold in a coffee bar.5%
They receive roughly 5% of the retail price of a package of coffee sold in a U.S. supermarket.
Oxfam, 2002, p. 21.
Photo of grocery store coffee display by Ted Goodfleisch

9. Small coffee farmers, their families and communities are suffering
Photos of women and man by Cindi Young

10. What Is Happening in the Global Coffee Industry ?
Ethiopian coffee farmer

11. Prices Paid Coffee Farmers are Very Low
The price farmers receive for their coffee is at a record low, just 25% of the price
in 1960.
Oxfam, 2002, p. 9. (25% of 1960 price)
Price trend: International Coffee Organization

12. Prices Paid Coffee Farmers are Very Low
An excess supply of coffee has driven down the world price.
A power imbalance has driven down the prices paid small farmers even more.

13. An excess supply of coffee has driven down the price
There are new coffee-producing countries. Viet Nam is now the world’s second largest producer. Traditional producers
are also growing
more coffee to
boost incomes.
Young
coffee plants

14. An excess supply of coffee has driven down the price
Farmers try to offset the falling price by producing and selling even more. But this leads to even lower prices and earnings continue to fall.
Photo: The Fairtrade Foundation

15. An excess supply of coffee has driven down the price
The fall in price has especially hurt people whose small farms cannot be mechanized and who lack money
for investments that
could increase
their output.
Small hillside farm of shade-grown coffee
Coffee plantation in Kenya

16. An excess supply of coffee has driven down the price
While the world price has fallen, the price charged consumers in grocery stores and coffee shops is little changed.
The “middle-men,” especially the coffee roasting firms, reap much of the benefit.
Fairtrade Foundation, 2002, p. 4.

17. Prices Paid Coffee Farmers are Very Low
A power imbalance
has driven down the
prices paid
to small
farmers
even more.
Oxfam, 2002, p. 9.
Kraft owns
Maxwell House

18. A power imbalance has driven down prices paid small farmers
Lacking modern transportation and with
limited options for selling their crops, small farmers often sell to local buyers (“coyotes”) who pay especially low prices.

19. A power imbalance has driven down prices paid small farmers
Small farmers typically sell their crop immediately after harvest when the price is lowest because they lack
storage
facilities
and need
the money.

20. A power imbalance has driven down prices paid small farmers
They may have borrowed money during the growing season to buy food, meet emergencies, or pay for other coffee-growing items. Generally, loans are available only at
very high rates of interest so prompt repayment is critical.
Photo of girl by Cindi Young; photo of coffee farmers by Maria Ramser
Returning home from the coffee trees on the mountainside

21. A power imbalance has driven down prices paid small farmers
“In selling my coffee I cannot consider the market price. I decide when to sell according to my pressing needs. Hence I will sell regardless of the price, whether it is high or low. I do not have bargaining power.” Indonesian farmer
Fairtrade Foundation, 2002, p. 16. (quote)

22. A power imbalance has driven down prices paid small farmers
With little access to credit at reasonable rates, small farmers often cannot afford investments
to improve
their farming practices or
diversify into
other, more
profitable crops.

23. A power imbalance has driven down prices paid small farmers
Consequently, small farmers
have difficulty competing
with mechanized coffee
plantations and
multinational
firms.

24. Small Farmers Earn too Little
Low coffee prices and small
farmers’ vulnerability
and disadvantage
mean they earn
too little for their
coffee.

25. Developing Countries Earn too Little
A different power imbalance leaves small coffee-producing countries with too little money for their coffee.
Photo by Maria Ramser

26. Developing Countries Earn too Little
Exporters in coffee-producing
(usually poor) countries sell their coffee to international buyers and roasters. These large multinational firms seek to pay as little as possible.
Just three roasters (Nestle, Kraft – Maxwell House, and Sara Lee) process 45% of the world’s coffee.
Just four companies
purchase 40% of
the world’s coffee.

27. Developing Countries Earn too Little
If prices for the 10 most valuable agricultural commodities exported by developing countries (coffee is one of these) had risen since 1980 only enough to keep pace with inflation,
then exporting countries
would have received
$112 billion more in 2002
than they actually did.
Food and Agriculture Organization, The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2004, FAO, Rome, 2004, page 21. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5419e/y5419e00.pdfFAO Photo by Edith Rasell

28. Developing Countries Earn too Little
This amount, $112 billion, is more than twice the international aid received
by all
developing countries, worldwide, that year.
Food and Agriculture Organization, The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2004, FAO, Rome, 2004, page 21. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5419e/y5419e00.pdfFAO Photo by Stan Duncan
Market, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mex.

29. Developing Countries Earn too Little
Since they
are paid so
little for their
products,
these poor
nations are
unable to
pay off their
debts, provide essential services to their populations, and import needed items.
Colombia
Food and Agriculture Organization, The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2004, FAO, Rome, 2004, page 21. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/007/y5419e/y5419e00.pdfFAO Photo by Edith Rasell

30. The Impact of Low Coffee Earnings On Coffee Farmers and their Communities
Photos by Edith Rasell
Sincelejo, Colombia
Nogales, Mexico

31. Impact of Low Coffee Earnings
Worsening poverty
In Mexico, “as a result of the decline in farmers’ income, about 20% of children were taken out of school and [farmers] were unable to afford clothes, shoes, basic medical attention, and repayment of credit.”
-- Mexico: Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones Cafetaleras
Fairtrade Foundation, 2002, p Photo by Cindi Young
Chiapas, Mex.

32. Impact of Low Coffee Earnings
Loss of Farms
Farmers can lose their land, forcing families to move to cities where living conditions may be inhumane and jobs are scarce.
Indonesia
Brazil

33. Impact of Low Coffee Earnings
Neglect of Coffee Trees
Cuts Future Income
Farmers may leave their communities to look for other work. Coffee trees are neglected, reducing the quality and quantity of future years’ beans, and future income.
Neglected, diseased coffee tree

34. Impact of Low Coffee Earnings
Migration
Farmers may leave their country, seeking work elsewhere. Tens of thousands of Mexican coffee farmers have left their land,
leaving behind grieving families and weakened communities. Some come to the U.S. without documents.
U.S.-Mexico border

35. What Can Be Done ? Fair Trade, not “free” trade,
will improve the lives of
coffee farmers
Fair-trade importers provide
a vital link between small farmers and consumers who seek justice for small coffee farmers.

36. A Fair Trade Coffee Importer Agrees to:
* Buy coffee grown
by small farmers organized into cooperatives (coops).

37. What is a Coop?
A cooperative (coop) is a business that is owned and democratically controlled by
its members.
Photo by Cindi Young
Members, CIRSA Coop, Chiapas, Mex.

38. What is a Coop?
A coop operates for the benefit of its members. It does not earn profits for share-holders. It elects its own leadership and does
not answer to an outside board.
Photo: CLUSA: ASOCIACION LIGA DE COOPERATIVAS, NICARAGUA
Coffee coop members, Nicaragua

39. A Fair Trade Coffee Importer Agrees to:
* Pay a fair price currently set at $1.21 a pound or pay the world price, whichever is higher; and
Pay a 5 cent per pound
“social premium;” and
If organic, pay an
additional 15 cents a pound.

40. The Social Premium
The social premium of 5 cents per pound is paid to the coop, not to farmers.
Coop members decide how this money is to be used: for example, to
purchase needed equipment such as a truck to transport coffee, or to build a school or clinic.
Photo by Stan Duncan
Truck purchased by Mexican coop

41. A Fair Trade Coffee Importer Agrees to:
* Purchase coffee directly from farmer coops, eliminating many “middle men” and opportunities for exploitation, providing higher prices for farmers.
Photos by Edith Rasell
Warehouse, CIRSA Coop, Chiapas, Mex.

42. Farmers get a Larger Share of the Price Paid by Consumers
A simplified market (follow the green lines) means fewer middle men and more money for farmers.

43. A Fair Trade Coffee Importer Agrees to:
* Develop long-term relations with a coop. This encourages investment since farmers know they will have a strong, ongoing market for their coffee.
* Offer credit of up to 60% of the coffee’s sales price in advance of the harvest.
Photo by Cindi Young

44. Benefits of Fair Trade to Farmers and their Families
Better education, health, and opportunities due to the social premium payment.
Higher incomes.
Greater access to
credit for investment
and other needs.
Photo by Edith Rasell

45. Benefits of Fair Trade to Farmers and their Families
Stable incomes that enable farmers to risk experimenting with
other techniques
and crops that might
have a higher payoff.
Increased self esteem.
Higher quality coffee (that earns a higher price) due to training provided by the coop.
Photo by Cindi Young

46. Benefits of Fair Trade to Farm Communities
Enhanced community
opportunities such as
economic develop-
ment projects, schools,
health clinics,
sanitation facilities,
clean water, and
fuel-efficient stoves.
Strengthened communities with less poverty, more stability, and healthier and more educated community members.
Photo by Cindi Young

47. Benefits of Fair Trade to Farm Communities
Stronger political and economic organizations
representing farmers’ interests locally and nationally.
Better
environmental
practices
including
organic
farming.
Strengthened
indigenous
communities.
Photo by Edie Rasell

48. Benefits of Fair Trade to Farm Communities
“When you buy our coffee you are not just buying our coffee but supporting our democracy”
-- Guillermo Vargas Leiton, coffee farmer, Costa Rica
Fairtrade Foundation, 2002, p. 22.

49. Benefits of Fair Trade to Developing Countries
Increased export earnings to pay off debts to banks and international organizations and to purchase needed imports.
A better fed, healthier,
and more educated
population.
A more stable
population without
excessive migration
within or out
of the country.
Photo Cindi Young

50. The Story of one Coop: Coocafe in Costa Rica
Coocafe is a coop in Costa Rica that began selling fair trade coffee in It has grown to over 3,500 farmer members and their families.

51. The Story of one Coop: Coocafe in Costa Rica
Coocafe has used its social premium to:
Purchase a processing plant to de-pulp coffee beans that uses 80% less water.
Purchase a solar energy system
to dry beans, eliminating the
need to cut down over six acres
of forests annually.
Promote diversification into additional crops like
macadamia nuts, yucca, bananas, and cassava,
and help market these crops.
Source:

52. The Story of one Coop: Coocafe in Costa Rica
Coocafe, has also provided:
almost 1,000 scholarships
for farmers’ children to
attend secondary school
and university.
helped maintain local primary schools.
purchased land for 25 landless families.
Learn more at
Source:

53. Fairly Traded Coffee
The first Fairly Traded coffee was imported into the Netherlands in 1973 from Guatemalan small-farmer cooperatives.
Thirty years later, 200 coffee cooperatives representing nearly 700,000 farmers, and more than 70 traders and 350 coffee roasters are part of the Fair Trade network.
Oxfam, 2002, p. 40.
TransFair USA, 2005 Fair Trade Coffee Facts and Figures. TransFair USA, Oakland, CA, 2006, p. 6.

54. Fairly Traded Coffee
Over 30% of all Fairly Traded coffee sold in the world is purchased in the U.S.
It comes from 84 co-ops and hundreds of thousands of
farmers in 18 countries.
TransFair USA, 2006, pp. 1, 4, 6.
Photo Cindi Young

55. Fairly Traded Coffee
By 2004, sales of Fairly Traded coffee in the U.S. had risen to over 16,000 tons.
But this was less than 2% of all coffee sold here.
TransFair USA, 2006.

56. Global sales of Fairly Traded coffee,
2004 and 2005
(tons)
37,469
26,700
Worldwide, sales of Fairly Traded coffee grew 40% between 2004 and 2005.
Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International, Annual Report
24,222 metric ton = 26,700 tons; 33,992 MT = 37,469 tons

57. Fairly Traded Coffee
Certified fair-trade coops produce seven times more coffee than fair trade buyers purchase. They cannot sell all their coffee to fair trade purchasers.
So we need to expand sales of fairly traded coffee.
Murray, Raynolds, and Taylor, 2003, p. 15.
Photo Cindi Young

58. Fairly Traded Certified Coffee
The nonprofit
organization
TransFair USA
certifies coffee,
tea, chocolate,
rice, sugar
and a few
fresh fruits.
WATCH FOR & BUY PRODUCTS WITH THIS LABEL

59. Where to Buy Fairly Traded Coffee
There are a number of Fairly
Traded coffee traders and
roasters.
Coffee, tea, and cocoa may
be purchased through the
UCC-Equal Exchange Coffee Project (

60. Where to Buy Fairly Traded Coffee
Equal Exchange is the oldest and largest fair trade organization in the U.S. and is itself a worker-owned coop.
It’s Interfaith Program for faith-based organizations serves over 11,000 participating congregations and other groups.
11,000: Equal Exchange 2004 Annual Report, p 6.

61. Where to Buy Fairly Traded Coffee
Global Exchange has links to a number of sources of Fairly Traded coffee. (
To find a grocery store near your home that sells Fairly Traded products including coffee, go to TransFair’s online locator at

62. Where to Buy Fairly Traded Coffee
Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Procter & Gamble, and other large corporations have also agreed to sell Fairly Traded coffee. However,
consumers report
it is often unavailable
when they request it.
The Bottom Line:
Watch for the Fair
Trade Certified logo

63. , God is Still Speaking Produced by Edith Rasell
Minister for Workplace Justice
Justice and Witness Ministries
United Church of Christ
700 Prospect Ave
Cleveland, OH
2006
, God is Still Speaking