Matching Grant Success Story
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"Global coffee production can only be sustainable if it is
economically viable, socially responsible and environmentally sensitive at
all levels of the supply chain."
--Orin Smith, President and CEO,
Starbucks |
Challenge
The El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico, is one of Mexico's
richest areas of endemic, endangered species as well as the last remaining cloud
forest in Southern Mexico. The reserve's major challenge is to find ways to
conserve tropical biodiversity, while supporting efforts of people in the region
to improve their livelihood. A buffer zone, surrounding the core of the Reserve,
has provided some extended protection while at the same time allowing existing
agricultural and other economic activities to continue.
Initiative
El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Mexico is the flagship project site of
Conservation International's Conservation Coffee™ Program. With support
from USAID's Office of Private Voluntary Cooperation (PVC) and Starbucks
Coffee Company, Conservation International (CI) works with farmers in the buffer
zone of the Reserve to produce coffee that is cultivated in ways that help
conserve biodiversity. Since 2000, support from PVC has helped CI build capacity
of local farmers and community-based organizations. Starbucks has provided
financial assistance and technical expertise to farmers, as well as a market for
their high quality conservation coffee since 1998. CI's main goal is to promote
cultivation methods that protect forests, streams, and wildlife while boosting
farmers' incomes.
The Conservation Coffee Program works closely with the coffee producers to
identify and implement local conservation practices that are appropriate to each
coffee region. The program also helps coffee cooperatives improve coffee
quality, increase financial transparency, and engage in better business planning
so that the economic benefits reach farmers and they meet the standards of
international buyers, such as Starbucks. The project in Mexico is being
replicated in other important coffee growing regions, such as Colombia, Peru,
Costa Rica, Panama, and other parts of Mexico.
Results
- The Chiapas program increased its client base from two to six cooperatives
in two years, while the number of participating farmers rose from 300 to more
than 1,000.
- Approximately 3,000 hectares of coffee fields are being managed using the
best practices for conservation coffee.
- Starbucks Coffee Company has bought coffee directly from the project's cooperatives
for four consecutive years, beginning with purchases of 75,000 pounds in 1999
and increasing to 1.7 million pounds in 2002. The coffee has been sold under
the Commitment to Origins™ brand names, Shade Grown Mexico™
and Decaf Shade Grown Mexico™. Starbucks has also purchased coffee
from CI's projects in Colombia and Peru.
- Since late 2000, with a loan-loss guarantee from Starbucks, CI has
provided $750,000 in affordable credit to 6 coffee cooperatives in Chiapas
with a 100 percent repayment rate.
Contact Person:
Adele Liskov, Acting Director of PVC-ASHA,
Office of Private Voluntary Cooperation - American Schools & Hospitals Abroad (PVC-ASHA), Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
E-Mail: aliskov@usaid.gov
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