SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
There are many countries across the developing world that are so dependent upon the export of coffee, that any slump in the market affects not only the farmers but the community and its infrastructure as well. Because the very nature of the coffee market is cyclical, when prices fall these communities simply cannot cope - affecting everything from working conditions to health care, communications to education and employment levels.
The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI-Platform), which was co-founded by Nestlé, is starting to help tackle this problem - by contributing to supply coffee farmers across the developing world with the information, equipment and help they need to both make more money from their coffee, and also to branch out into other agricultural sectors. These additional sources of income are important because they reduce the community's reliance on coffee, meaning they are less affected by fluctuations in the coffee market.
"Helping communities work towards becoming fully self-sufficient"
While our work is still very much in its early stages, initiatives have already been taken within the main project areas for NESCAFÉ Partners' Blend to contribute to a more sustainable society.
For example, in Ethiopian communities such as Hama, 95% of the people did not have clean drinking water, so we concentrated our initial efforts on the installation of facilities for water drilling and drinking water distribution. We are pleased to announce that this project is now complete, and the community has a supply of clean drinking water.
Likewise, in El Salvador, new houses were built for permanent and temporary cooperatives' workers and their families, as well as a training centre / clinic for cooperatives' members and workers, and school materials were provided for 700 children.
By supporting Fairtrade certification of four small co-operatives in El Salvador, Nestlé not only pays at the Fairtrade-approved rate, but also adds a social premium for every pound of coffee. Farmers decide democratically how this additional money will be spent, and this strengthens their own organisations, as well as enabling them to invest in social projects to benefit the whole community.
Sustainable initiatives in other countries include providing assistance to build classrooms to accommodate 120 farmers' children by Nestlé Mexico, and in Guatemala we have constructed two modern classrooms as well as improving the school's water supply.
"Nestlé Mexico has also provided assistance to build classrooms to accommodate 120 farmers' children, and also provides food donations."
As part of Nestlé Agricultural Services we have also established Coffee Experimental and Demonstration Farms in China, Thailand and the Philippines. These practical centres of sustainable farming offer farmers, coffee experts and students from Agricultural Institutes access to a variety of training activities and exchange of knowledge between local farmers and trained agronomists.
In the field, these same agronomists regularly arrange visits to farms, providing on-site training as well as technical assistance. And, in the case of the more remote farms of southern Thailand, three radio stations broadcast regular Nestlé Coffee Bulletins to pass on expert knowledge to the farmers.
Our concentration on education not only sows the seeds for a sustainable future, it also means that farmers are quickly becoming much better able to grow better quality coffee, and they know what it is worth - putting them in a better bargaining position when selling their produce.
In all of these communities, we respect and adhere to the ten ethical principles of The Global Compact, the United Nation's international network of corporations committed to responsible business practices.
