Information about Fair Trade Coffee

COFFEE

More than a billion people worldwide drink coffee every day. It’s one of the most traded commodities globally. And yet many of the people who grow this much-loved product can’t earn a living to rely on. The coffee industry From Honduras to Vietnam to Kenya and Indonesia, some 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihood. For a number of reasons, the global price of coffee is highly volatile. The coffee supply chain is a complex one. After leaving coffee farms, the beans pass through a succession of traders, processors, exporters, roasters and retailers. Most farmers have little knowledge of where their coffee ends up, or the price it sells for.

How Fairtrade makes a difference?

We all need to understand what coffee actually costs to be produced sustainably. Farmers need fair pay. There are almost +775,000 coffee farmers in the Fairtrade system, making up almost half of all Fairtrade farmers and workers. The Fairtrade Minimum Price is a safety net that offers coffee farmers stability in the unpredictable global market. This security protects them from sudden price drops, allows them to better plan financially and make investments that would increase their income for the future. Cooperatives can invest in value-adding equipment like roasting machines, or branch out into new areas such as agrotourism. The Fairtrade Premium. Farmers can invest the Premium, an extra sum of money paid on top of the selling price, in business or community projects they choose. A portion of Premium goes towards improving coffee production or quality. Organically grown coffee receives an additional price. Adapting to climate change. That includes sharing ways of making their farms more resilient, such as spending Premium on drought and disease-resistant coffee variety seedlings. Rebalancing power. By getting together in small producer organizations, farmers can negotiate better terms of trade and reach more markets.