ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
Many coffee farmers across the developing world live in remote, isolated communities with poor transportation links to the main towns where the larger coffee stations are based. Instead of being able to deal directly with the buyers, the growers must instead sell at the lower price offered by middlemen who then transport the coffee to market and sell with often exaggerated profit margins.
"14% of all the coffee we purchase is procured through Nestlé buying stations opened to the farmers themselves"
When the demand for coffee is high and coffee prices are good, the farmers can just about cope with their cut of the profit. However this is a cyclical market, and when supply outweighs demand, this system hits the growers hardest – leaving them with the bare minimum for their coffee.
NESCAFÉ are helping to tackle this problem by cutting out the middlemen where possible, and now 14% of all the coffee we purchase is procured through Nestlé buying stations opened to the farmers themselves.
This ensures that they can retain a much greater percentage of the profit from their crop. It also means they are paid promptly and based on quality rather than quantity, thereby giving them the opportunity to obtain a higher price for their beans.
In the case of
NESCAFÉ Partners' Blend, all of the beans we source from El Salvador and Ethiopia are 100%
Fairtrade certified. The international criteria for this guarantees that the coffee was obtained at a fair and stable price, with additional resources and support provided to help farmers improve their lives.
But even by giving these smallholder farmers a fair price for their crop, there is still an obvious danger to any farmer or community depending so heavily upon the growing of coffee – especially with the current market.
"In 2001, Nestlé, Danone and Unilever founded the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI-Platform)"
Which is why, in 2001, Nestlé, Danone and Unilever founded the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI-Platform).
The SAI was aimed to help combat this problem by encouraging all farmers within developing communities to diversify and widen their income streams, both through growing alternative crops and keeping livestock.
A lot of farmers know only traditional growing methods, many of which have now been replaced with simple modern alternatives that produce a better quality crop.
NESCAFÉ provide agronomists to work closely with the farmers in many of these regions. They visit each farm to advise on the most suitable route for diversification, as well as provide all initial crops, animals and materials necessary to help the growers establish their new farms.
Through teaching the farmers new skills and helping them to improve both the quality and yield of their crop, it ultimately ensures that they get a higher price for their produce over the long term.
"Our goal is to identify the key indicators of progress towards sustainability"
Our objectives are to promote the application of modern technologies over traditional farming methods, optimize the efficiency of their coffee growing land, and allow the farmer to produce alternative crops of valuable yield. In this way, farmers can improve their coffee incomes, as well as developing a back-up plan in order to defend themselves and their communities from any sudden, volatile changes to the coffee market.
The SAI-Platform is currently involved in sixteen pilot projects, to test sustainable principles and practices, including El Salvador and Ethiopia. Our goal is to identify the key indicators of progress towards sustainability, as and when they arise, and establish sustainable livelihoods for all of those involved.
