Just Haiti News: Drink Coffee, Grow Peace and Justice

constuction site in Vincendron
Site construction near the village of Vincendron. The cinder block building will be used to house a depulper and to store dried green coffee until it is time to transport the beans for export. The second processing site is being built near the village of Fond Tortue. Photo courtesy Gétro Atila. (Details about new sites)

Growers build new coffee-processing sites as loan fund reaches goal
September 30, 2009

Coffee growers are building two new sites for processing and drying coffee, and Just Haiti supporters have reached the $25,000 goal for the loan fund that makes the new sites possible.

In July, the Kafe Devlopman Barade (Coffee Development Group of Baradères) signed a loan agreement with Just Haiti and began drawing on funds to purchase their first two machines for depulping freshly harvested coffee cherries. They also began building two large concrete patios on which to dry the depulped, washed beans.

With the new sites, the growers will be able to process their coffee more efficiently and improve its quality. [Details about the planned new sites]

This year's coffee harvest has begun in Baradères. But this is now hurricane season, so it's hoped that the sites will be available to process some of this fall's harvest. The growers are doing their best to finish the work, according to Gétro Atila, agronomist for the Kafe Devlopman Barade (KDB).

Under the loan agreement, KDB will repay the first installment, $12,500, in 5 years at zero-percent interest. KDB and Just Haiti together determined that expected sales volume over the 5-year period would enable meeting that repayment goal. As KDB membership increases and more KDB coffee is produced, the second installment of the loan can be disbursed.

Grower signs loan agreement
A KDB coffee grower signs the loan agreement in July. Photo by Kim Lamberty.

Hundreds of small and large donations make up the loan fund, and we at Just Haiti are very grateful to every one of our many donors. What put the fund over the top was a $5,570 donation received this month from Unicorn Grocery, a 50-member worker cooperative in Manchester, England. The donation came from a Unicorn fund to support projects that address imbalances arising from unfair world trade.

While the loan-fund goal has been reached, the growers can pay back the loan only through sales of Kafe Lespwa. That's why we plan additional steps to increase sales volume not only to individuals but also to institutions, restaurants, and other businesses.

While it is beneficial for people to buy Kafe Lespwa as an occasional act of social consciousness, buying it for daily use makes economic justice an everyday event instead of a special occasion.

KDB farmers receive established Fair Trade prices for their coffee. In addition, ALL sales proceeds of roast coffee go to support the association's business. Just Haiti's Fair-Trade-Plus model means the growers reap the full profit of their coffee's market value. By contrast, most Fair Trade coffee is roasted and packaged by middlemen whose profits far exceed the growers'.

coffee Just Haiti works to alleviate poverty, hunger, violence, illiteracy and disease in Haiti by fostering small-business development, education programs, employment opportunity, infrastructure improvement and environmental quality. Just Haiti is a Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization.

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