"Resuscitating Doha is essential to right the rigged rules of trade, but what's been simmering on the WTO stove will simply not deliver for poor countries, said Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser. "The financial crisis, which started in developed countries but is taking its worst toll on developing countries, should be the impetus for a change in course."
In a new report released today called "Empty Promises," Oxfam details how the Doha Round has become an exercise in prying open developing country markets rather than an effort to rebalance decades of unfair agricultural and industrial trade rules. In the midst of a global economic crisis, a food crisis, and a climate crisis, nations with the least blame and with the least capacity to cope with the consequent effects must not have to pay even more to enable their economies to develop, according to the report.
Over 50 million people stand to lose their jobs, remittances are collapsing, and growth in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to fall by 70 percent this year trapping 90 million more people in poverty, because of the crisis. Food prices meanwhile remain high for poor consumers: by the end of 2008 a further 109 million people had been added to the ranks of hungry, topping 1 billion people worldwide. As the world experiences the sharpest drop in trade in 80 years, a "development" trade deal—as originally promised—remains crucial, according to Oxfam.
"Now is the time for WTO members to come back to the negotiating table, recognize that the current crisis provides an opportunity to address urgent development needs, and change the course of negotiations, much as they did nearly eight years ago in Doha," said Offenheiser. "At this time of desperate need for a change of course, the Doha Round has to step up to deliver on its development promise. There is little credit left for another failure."
The welcome political commitment from the G8 could lead to a fresh start to negotiations, but it cannot be business as usual. In the past eight years, developed countries have used the talks to continue to push to open up new export markets. Developing countries have resisted, saying they were promised a deal that would give them space to protect their farmers and new industries, an end to rich country trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, and more access to rich markets for their farmers and industries.
The widespread food price crisis has shown that food and livelihood security cannot depend solely on market forces. Development, rather than liberalization, has to be the central objective of negotiations and trade rules must respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people first and foremost, according to Oxfam. It is the responsibility of WTO member states to analyze the role of trade in the recent global crises so that the Doha negotiations take into account the new global context and contribute to a solution, rather than exacerbate the problem.
"What's on the table is no silver bullet since it continues to favor the richest and biggest farmers and industrialists in the US and Europe and sidelines the needs of the poor," said Offenheiser. "We have seen what can be done when countries find the resolve to avert problems at home, and this resolve must be translated to the multilateral trade agenda so that the much-needed conclusion of the Doha Round can be achieved in a manner that addresses developing country needs first and foremost."
]]>That's the lesson Tadesse Meskela, an Ethiopian coffee activist, offered to a crowd of Boston University during a stop on his Oxfam-sponsored seven-city tour to raise awareness about the gross inequities in the global coffee trade and to promote "Black Gold," a new documentary about that industry.
In a small but packed auditorium, Meskela walked the students through the maze of market factors that cut coffee farmers out of their fair share of profit for a commodity that's worth, by some accounts, $80 billion a year in retail sales.
Converting Ethiopian currency into dollars, one student quickly calculated the true cost of that imbalance: What farmers sell for pennies a pound, large coffee roasters can command $14.
"That's a little more than 100 times what the farmer gets," said the student.
Getting more of those profits into the pockets of farmers is the main objective of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU)—a 90,000-member organization with which Oxfam America has worked for four years. Meskela is the union's manager and the "star" of "Black Gold," which explores the links between the multinational coffee corporations and the poverty that plagues so many of Ethiopia's coffee growers.
Across the country, about 15 million people rely on coffee for income. Fluctuations in its global price leave growers struggling to feed their families and send their children to school—a luxury many simply can't afford.
Membership in the union helps farmers tap into the "fair trade" market which guarantees them a higher price for their beans—sometimes three times what local dealers and exporters offer. Fair trade rules also ensure that some of those higher earnings are set aside to improve the farmers' communities through the construction of schools, health clinics, and clean water supply systems.
Founded in 1999, OCFCU has already facilitated the construction of four new schools, 17 extra classrooms, four health clinics, and three new water supply systems. Every cup of fair trade coffee consumers here in the United States drink will help improve even more the lives of farmers scattered through the cool, green hills of Oromia.
But what surprised Meskela most as he traveled from Boston to Madison—with stops in New York City, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Chicago, and Milwaukee—was how little people really knew about the brew that gets them up and going in the morning.
"What I noticed was 95 percent, and above, do not know where coffee comes from," said Meskela. "They don't know the life of the person behind the cup." It's that farmer—laboring hard in an industry dominated by a market that puts the needs of growers last—that Meskela wants consumers to understand and appreciate.
"We have to create connections with producers—and awaken all Americans," he said.
Meskela has a deep affinity for coffee growers and the hardship that defines their days. From the Oromia region himself, he grew up in a large farming family. But unlike many other farm children, Meskela got to go to school—as did every one of his siblings.
"My father is unique," said Meskela with pride. "He has sent all of his children to school. He was the first person to send a girl to school in the 1950s from our Oromo culture. If all of us had stayed on the farm we would have been poorer and poorer because the land would be shared among 13 of us."
Instead, among his brothers and sisters he now counts two engineers (civil and electric), an accountant, two secretaries, a draftswoman, and a high school principal. Meskela himself graduated from college with a degree in agricultural economics.
While some family members are still on the farm plowing fields of a grain called teff, education has offered his brothers and sisters a range of opportunities that Meskela would like to see others be able to take advantage of, too. Making trade fair is the first step in that direction—and educating consumers about the links between their morning cups of coffee and the growers who produce the beans is critical.
"All of them say 'what shall we do?'" said Meskela, recounting the reactions he heard time and again after people watched "Black Gold" or heard him give a presentation. "The first thing you can do is buy fair trade coffee. And the second is support us in campaigning to get a better price."
]]>He'd left his village for the first time to explain why companies like Starbucks should recognize Ethiopia's ownership of its own coffee brands.
"The names Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, and Harar are as unique to Ethiopia as the flavors of the coffees," he said. "Whoever says these names are not the property of Ethiopia is as crazy as someone who would say the name I gave my first-born son is no longer his."
Robe spoke at this coffee ceremony last December as a kind of local celebrity. His face—the gray beard, the unflinching stare—had become the iconic image of Oxfam America's Starbucks campaign. Launched in October 2006, the campaign asked that the coffee giant sign an agreement acknowledging Ethiopia's right to license and distribute its fine coffees. By recognizing Ethiopia's intellectual property rights, Starbucks could give poor farmers a chance to earn a greater share of the profits.
Aware of Starbucks' status as a global brand interested in maintaining its socially responsible reputation, Oxfam used grassroots activism and strategic media to draw attention to the issue. Though initially reluctant, Starbucks entered into serious talks with Ethiopia in May. By June, they had finalized an agreement that could change the coffee industry forever.
"The true victors of this campaign are the 1.5 million coffee farmers in Ethiopia whose lives will improve," said Abera Tola, director of Oxfam America's regional office in Ethiopia."They have given a glimmer of hope to millions more like them all over the world who deserve recognition for the quality products they generate."
At Oxfam, we feel it's important to stop and recognize a victory. But after all the celebratory emails have been sent, what comes next? For an organization interested in creating lasting solutions to poverty, the end of an effort is in many ways the beginning. This is when the real analysis comes in; just what went into this win?
Oxfam began negotiating with Starbucks in 2005 when we first learned about Ethiopia's efforts to trademark its fine coffees. After dozens of conversations between our Boston headquarters, the Seattle home of Starbucks, and Ethiopia's Intellectual Property Office in Addis Ababa, it became clear that high-level talks would not be enough. It was time to enlist the public.
At a grassroots level, Oxfam worked with a coalition of allies to organize members of the Ethiopian Diaspora, students, Starbucks employees, and our own supporter base. By the campaign's end, more than 100,000 people had gotten involved, many of them sending Robe's photo around the world on postcards, flyers, and posters. Robe's face even appeared on web sites and in newspaper ads during a series of global "days of action" in places like Seattle, Scotland, and Hong Kong. The accompanying message to Starbucks remained simple: Honor your commitments to coffee farmers.
Throughout all this work, Oxfam tested creative ways to engage our supporters. We filmed the days of action and posted the video on YouTube. We sent a petition to Starbucks that became the most popular online action in our organization's history. We had supporters participate in a photo petition on Flickr. And we promoted it all on our social networking pages on MySpace and Facebook.
Eventually Oxfam's message reached Starbucks' shareholders. A few sent letters to Starbucks supporting Ethiopia's trademark initiative. And at the Starbucks annual general meeting in April, some joined members of the Ethiopian community in asking pointed questions of both the company CEO and chairman.
With activists combining efforts around the world, Oxfam ramped up the public pressure by focusing on the press. Over the course of the campaign, major media outlets&mdsah;including NPR, the BBC, CNN, Time, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal—featured the David-and-Goliath struggle of the Ethiopian farmers and Starbucks.
"What might have remained a little-noticed bureaucratic dispute became an international affair when Oxfam, a nonprofit relief and development group, began publicizing it in the fall," wrote The Wall Street Journal in a March 5 article.
Each aspect of the campaign had its impacts. But it just may have been the voice on the ground that resonated loudest with Starbucks. In the end, the company seemed to accept the simple truth: The campaign wasn't about a development agency, a roaster, or a government. It was about people like Robe, the coffee farmer demanding economic justice.
When the old farmer from Afursa Waro village, whose face had launched the entire campaign, made one final appearance, it was in a thank-you video for Oxfam supporters.
Sitting among his fellow farmers in a lush meadow overlooking the Yirgacheffe hills, Robe looked into the camera once again. "We know that Oxfam and many people around the globe are standing by our side in supporting us in this effort," he said. "You, our supporters, have given voice to our cause."
Then Robe stood alongside his fellow farmers and, in unison, offered a series of customary bows. "Gelatoma. Gelatoma. Gelatoma," they said in Oromifa, their region's language. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
]]>"Black Gold" will go to DVD, and air on the PBS show Independent Lens, this April. It's also still playing in theaters and at special free community screenings organized by Independent Television Service.
"Black Gold" follows Tadesse Meskela, manager of Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, as he travels the world looking for a better price for his farmers' coffee. Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, an Oxfam America partner organization since 2002, represents more than 100,000 farmers, who despite back-breaking work, watch their profits rise and fall depending on the fluctuating price on the world market.
"There is no coffee which is as quality as this coffee, but we are getting a low price," Meskela says in the film. "Our main aim is to bring more money into the coffee growers' pocket."
Throughout the fall and winter, Oxfam co-sponsored the promotion of "Black Gold" in more than 75 cities and towns across the country. Hundreds of volunteers turned out to support coffee farmers by handing out information at screenings and gathering thousands of signatures for the Big Noise, Oxfam's petition to Make Trade Fair.
With great candor, Meskela uses "Black Gold" as a platform to describe the situation Ethiopian coffee farmers face. When the price of coffee hit a 30-year low in 2001, farmers struggled to feed their children and send them to school. Some quit farming. Others began growing the more profitable chat, a local narcotic banned in the US and Europe. Malnourished and forced to travel long distances to accept foreign aid, some farmers saw no alternative but to bring their families to government feeding centers.
The price of coffee has risen over the last few years, but little has changed in these communities. In Ethiopia, country that depends on coffee for about 40 percent of its export revenue, farmers make as little as three cents for every cup of coffee sold in the United States or Europe. Meanwhile, multinational coffee corporations collectively rake in as much as $80 billion each year, according to the film.
British film makers Nick and Marc Frances use Meskela and the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union tell a larger story about poor countries that struggle to benefit from global trade. The film highlights the many corners of the coffee industry, from the Ethiopian growers who cultivate the best coffee in the world, to the NY traders who set the price, to the Seattle baristas at Starbucks who try to meet the high demand.
By working with producers in Ethiopia and Central America, and by engaging in consumer education, political advocacy, and corporate engagement, Oxfam seeks to create a world where small farmers are fairly rewarded for their hard work.
"Oxfam seeks to correct the imbalances of power at the root of unfair trade. This film highlights the vulnerability of coffee farmers and the disconnect that exists between poor farmers and huge profits," said Seth Petchers, Oxfam America's coffee program manager.
"'Black Gold' illustrates the gravity of the challenges facing coffee farmers—but those challenges are not insurmountable if people get involved. We're hoping people watch the film and get inspired to take action."
]]>Speaker: Ashenafi Argaw
SHAYNA HARRIS: It is a pleasure to be sharing with you the thoughts and wisdom of a fair trade friend who can not be with us tonight. Ashenafi Argaw and I met just a few months ago in the Oromia Coffee Farmers Union office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was in Ethiopia with my colleagues visiting Oxfam's regional office and the partner organizations with whom we work. Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, the organization that Ashenafi works with, is one of Oxfam's partners. Oxfam funds Sidama on various projects that the union identifies as important for its communities, ranging from coffee quality and processing, to clean water projects, to capacity building at the cooperative and union level.
Because Ashenafi can't be here himself, I want to give you a better sense of who he is. Ashenafi is an incredibly dynamic individual. Though our meeting was brief, I was immediately drawn to his spirit. He is a young, energetic, and incredibly committed individual.
Ashenafi graduated from Addis Ababa University and worked for one year with the government's Urban Development Office. After a year learning about how the Ethiopia government works, Ashenafi joined Furra College, determined to make a difference in the lives of Ethiopia's population by working on development issues. He completed a thesis on pricing and the coffee commodity, and through his studies became deeply convinced that generations of Ethiopia's farmers deserve more equity and dignity while pursuing their incredible work.
With what Ashenafi calls a "pressing conviction" he joined Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union and has been serving in different capacities. Currently, he is leading the export division.
With passion and commitment, Ashenafi is working to give a voice to Ethiopia's farmers, who have been silenced for too long.
ASHENAFI ARGAW: Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity to share a message with you from Ethiopia's poor and unheard farmers.
The word "crisis" can not sufficiently describe what has happened in Africa. The human tragedy there is so serious, it sometimes defies description. According to the World Bank, the majority of African countries (about 36) have a per capita annual income less than $675. On a yearly basis, Ethiopians typically earn $110 each.
In the face of this bleak poverty, political crisis, and instability, I am happy to see that there are people who are willing and committed to help. Your presence here proves that you want to empower the downtrodden.
The marriage between fair trade and farmers has helped lessen the poverty for my people. Fair trade has saved the lives of poor farmers. And participating in fair trade requires that both buyers and growers are disciplined, honest, and fair.
One of the "Seven Sins" as Gandhi puts it was: "Commerce without morality." In this way, a fair price is a moral price. It should, however, be clear that paying this price is only part of the overall package that will transform humanity.
I believe we are all in the same boat. The circumstances might vary. But in the end, what touches one part of humanity sooner or later affects the rest.
It has been many decades since farmers started to grow coffee in our area. Coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia in a place called Kaffe. Soon coffee was growing throughout East, West, and South, becoming a necessary source of income for many Ethiopian farmers. Coffee makes up more than 50 percent of Ethiopia's total exports, generating vital income for its population of 73 million, more than half of whom live on less than a dollar a day. But then the price slump began in 1998, and the crisis affected the country in general and the coffee producers in particular.
Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union was designed to find an alternative ways to get coffee farmers a market for their crops and a fair price that would allow them to maintain their farms and provide basic necessities for their families. Searching for new alternatives in the coffee market, the union empowered cooperatives by creating more direct relationships between the producer and the trader.
Fair trade guarantees a minimum of $1.26 per pound (a living wage) and access to credit at fair prices. These fair payments are invested in food, shelter, healthcare, education, environmental stewardship, and economic independence. Fair trade promotes socially and environmentally sustainable techniques and long-term relationships between producers, traders, and consumer.
But coffee isn't just about farmers. Coffee starts at the hands of producer and ends at the hands of consumer. As a representative of producers, I am close to the crop, where the story starts and as consumer you are close to the cup where the story ends. You get your coffee from supermarkets and I get my coffee from the farm. But the path from crop to cup, and from farm to supermarket is long, and there are many actors involved. Most of these actors are acting unfairly and affecting the lives of many poor and silenced farmers. Today, I kindly request you advocate for fair trade by preaching fair trade, and consuming fair trade.
Although I was unable to make it to your conference, I hope the message I have shared with you whets your activist appetite. I know we face a long winding path and it is mostly uphill. The tasks before us are among the hardest to perform. But I strongly believe that fairness, truth, and justice will shine through and help us win our battle. What it takes is a full commitment from us to the poor, downtrodden, and unheard farmers. Only then can we espouse the noblest ideals of humanity.
Thank you and God bless you!
SHAYNA HARRIS: Ashenafi represents the true spirit of a committed individual who is working on behalf of his country to bring true social and economic transformation to the lives of the over 80,000 farmers Sidama supports.
He is living proof that we all play an important role in the work for a more just world, regardless of where we were born, our social position, and the resources afforded to us. Like most of us here, Ashenafi was not born in a coffee growing community.
However he is an inspiration to us all, as he has found a way to use his education and privilege to form strong partnerships with the millions of coffee farmers of Ethiopia, and help bring their story to you.
To learn more about the Sidama coffee grower's cooperative you can visit Oxfam's website, at www.oxfamamerica.org. Ashenafi reminds us that we all play a role in transforming our world, in promoting a vision and enabling the notion that together, we can end poverty.
]]>Earlier this month, Ethiopian farmer cooperatives, coffee exporters, and government officials met with American and Canadian coffee companies in Long Beach, California to talk more about the trademark and licensing initiative.
The historic meeting at the Specialty Coffee Association of America conference represented the next stage in dialogue between Ethiopians and North American roasters, which started in Addis Ababa this February. There, roasters committed to help bring their peers to the table and Ethiopians agreed to begin building the program's infrastructure. Much was accomplished in just three short months. Getachew Mengiste, director of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office, told a standing-room-only crowd in Long Beach about recently completed training workshops for staff from embassies, farmer cooperatives, and exporting companies.
Ethiopia launched its coffee trademark and licensing initiative to give farmers more control over their world renowned coffee brands, strengthen farmers' negotiating position, and ultimately help them capture a greater share of their coffee's value. At the conference in Long Beach, the Ethiopians used their time with roasters to discuss the best ways to work together to put the program's "nuts and bolts" into place.
"We are working together for a common cause," said Mengiste as he opened the gathering. "This initiative should meet the interests of farmers to ensure that they get benefits from their fine coffee. The interests of our roaster partners should also be met. The whole idea behind this initiative is to connect our coffee farmers with the roasters."
Attendees agreed on the key points for discussion, which included ways that the coffee brands would be used on packages and labeling, joint marketing promotion strategies, guaranteeing quality, and expanding the network of participating roasters. Tadesse Meskela, manager of Oxfam partner, the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, opened the floor for discussion. As he stood in front of the room, Meskela thanked all of the participants and gave special acknowledgement to the roasters who have already committed to the project by signing a licensing agreement.
For two hours, participants discussed ideas, challenges, and opportunities for moving the trademarking initiative forward. The spirit of the conversation was collaborative with roasters giving the Ethiopians many points to consider when they return home and begin implementation. Participants took on a shared sense of responsibility for carrying out their individual roles in the process. As Dean Cycon, owner of Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Company, one of the most recent companies to sign a licensing agreement with Ethiopia, said, "Whatever we're creating together we want to protect."
It will take a lot of hard work to ensure that the trademarking and licensing initiative creates real change for Ethiopia's poor coffee farmers. But the second meeting of Ethiopian stakeholders and North American roasters ended with participants ready to take up the challenge.
"We have said that the farmers have the right to own their coffee brands," said Ashenafi Argaw of the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. "Now all of the stakeholders need to work very hard together to bring them the benefits."
]]>Billed as the first summit between the Ethiopians who produce the coffee and the US and Canadian companies that buy it, this week's meeting showcased real unity and support for Ethiopia's efforts. Ethiopia has asserted ownership of the names of its coffees so that it can increase the coffees' value, gain more leverage, and receive an equitable price in the market. Already some companies, such as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, have agreed to work with Ethiopia on this initiative. Their representatives showed their support by attending the meeting.
"Now that the trademarking work is becoming fruitful, many in the specialty coffee market are happy with us and accept that we want to increase our negotiating power and ensure greater returns to small farmers," said Tadesse Meskela, manager of Oxfam partner, the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union.
As the three-hour meeting unfolded, I was struck by the achievements already realized by the Ethiopians. It was clear that everyone in the room was ready to work together to help Ethiopian farmers get an equitable share of the coffees, which have sold for as much as $26 a pound in the US. The stakeholders and coffee companies left the meeting with a "To Do" list and a promise to meet again in the coming months.
It was a tremendous achievement for Oxfam's partners, three farmer cooperative unions, to sit side-by-side with private exporters, government representatives, and foreign coffee buyers, discussing ways to improve the livelihoods of Ethiopia's coffee farmers.
During the meeting, I had the opportunity to speak about the tremendous global support Ethiopia's efforts have garnered. Since October, more than 90,000 Oxfam supporters from around the world have voiced their solidarity for Ethiopia's initiative. Through their efforts, these supporters have sent a clear message that coffee companies must recognize the legitimate right of countries and farmers to use the names of their coffees and their unique reputations to compete in global markets and realize higher incomes.
While much attention has been paid to Starbucks's unwillingness to recognize this right, I left the meeting feeling inspired. The conversation has moved from whether Ethiopia has the rightful ownership of its coffee names to how the coffee industry should recognize those rights and act accordingly.
As Ashenafi Argaw of Oxfam partner, Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, said, "Our farmers deserve a better price than they are getting right now. Let's plan and discuss ways to get them better benefits from the market."
]]>Following a traditional coffee ceremony featuring some of Ethiopia's finest coffees—Harar, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe—the farmers said they wanted the opportunity to make more money off the coffees they cultivate, which command such high prices among consumers.
While Starbucks charges as much as $26 a pound for Ethiopian specialty coffees, Ethiopian coffee farmers get only 5-10 percent of that price. For this reason, Ethiopia has asked Starbucks to sign a trademark agreement that would give Ethiopia the ability to control the use of its coffee names, occupy a stronger negotiating position with foreign buyers, and capture a larger share of the market.
"Just because I'm a farmer, don't think that I don't understand what's happening in the global market," said Tadesse Terro, who traveled from Yirgacheffe to speak out. "I do listen to the radio and I know how much my coffee retails for overseas. The money I earn for my hard work does not come close."
More than 200 people came to the Sheraton hotel in Addis Ababa to attend the coffee ceremony. Government officials and diplomats joined community activists and farmers. Each person signed a petition asking Starbucks to honor its commitment to Ethiopian coffee farmers by recognizing the country's ownership of its coffee names.
One farmer, 85-year-old Gemede Robe, left his Abaya district hometown for the first time to attend the event. Unable to read and write, he signed the Starbucks petition with his fingerprint.
Robe became the face behind Ethiopia's trademark initiative late last year when Oxfam began using his photograph to publicize the campaign.
"Like any other human being, we Ethiopians hold our names very dear," Robe said. "If given the opportunity to speak with people at the big company (Starbucks), I would ask them why they're resisting us owning our coffee names. I am sure they know, as the whole world does, that our coffees are some of the best in the world. But why are they refusing to give us the recognition we deserve?"
Oxfam is part of a broad coalition calling on Starbucks to sign a trademark agreement with Ethiopia. More than 89,000 people in 70 countries have already joined the campaign. Earlier in December, activists from New Zealand to Scotland to the US demonstrated outside of Starbucks stores. The coffee ceremony in Addis Ababa represented the culmination of these global actions.
]]>The discussions on the future of the International Coffee Agreement present an historic opportunity to address the ongoing crisis facing smallholder coffee farmers and farmworkers by contributing to sustainable coffee supply chains. At the 2nd World Coffee Conference in September 2005 several organizations presented the International Coffee Organisation and its delegates with the Carta de Salvador—the Salvador Declaration, which stressed the ongoing effects of the coffee crisis facing small-scale family farmers and farmworkers. This paper calls on International Coffee Organization members to support small-scale farmers and farmworker organizations by ensuring space for their direct participation in international debate, creating mechanisms that enhance the availability of market information to small-scale farmers, and maximizing opportunities to develop cohesive international strategies to provide technical support, access to credit, and direct access to markets.
]]>But I'm luckier than most. Just as the shortest, coldest days of winter hit Boston, the coffee cherries in Central America and Ethiopia begin reaching their peak red color. That's when I get to do my favorite work—visiting with Oxfam's coffee partners in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Ethiopia. Each coffee harvest, I reconnect with the farmers who Oxfam America campaigns for back home.
Whenever I visit with coffee farmers and explain that I've come to learn more about their lives I'm always greeted warmly. These visits get me motivated, although, if truth be told, the visits aren't always uplifting.
This harvest I visited a farmers' cooperative in southern Ethiopia. Though I was welcomed by a group of 15 farmers and their families, the conversation was grim. The coop had fallen on hard times. Though the world price of coffee was up, the families I met were struggling to make it on $300 a year. In two hours there wasn't a single smile on anyone's face and I drove away struggling to imagine how these people were going to make it.
Just a few weeks ago I returned from Guatemala. The volcanic mountains surrounding Lake Atitlan create some of the best coffee-growing conditions in the world. Yet last October the farmers I met with saw Hurricane Stan wash enough mud and boulders down from these mountains to cover houses and wipe out coffee farms. I met people who lost it all and found myself struck by the fact that these farmers—people who were already struggling to get by—were struggling even harder this year because they were on the wrong side of geographic circumstance.
But both in Ethiopia and Guatemala I was amazed to find—as I always do—something inspiring. This harvest, my favorite experience was a walk with Don Antonio Cavajay Ixtamer, president of the cooperative La Voz que Clama en el Desierto (the voice that cries out in the desert). Antonio took my colleagues and me on a walk through his coffee farm where Antonio estimates 80 percent of his land was damaged. We saw coffee trees buried in infertile silt and stumps marking the places where healthy coffee trees once stood.
At the far end of Antonio's farm we emerged from the trees left standing into an area that looked like a dry river bed covered with boulders, some larger than Antonio. He explained that this area had been covered with coffee trees but was inundated with rocks and mud that slid down the mountain during Stan.
It was hard to fathom the force that was required to do such damage to the farm and I asked Antonio if he would ever be able to recover the land. Without missing a beat, Antonio replied "Si se puede. Si se puede." (Yes we can. Yes we can.), and proceeded to explain how he and his sons would remove the rocks, fill trenches, and build stone barriers to divert water before the rainy season begins in May.
Antonio hopes to have the recoverable portions of his land replanted within three years. I don't know whether he'll be successful, but if he falls short, it won't be for lack of motivation and hard work.
Some won't be successful—I know that. But so many of the coffee farmers I meet share the same spirit as Antonio that I've returned to Boston inspired and ready to do what I can to support them. As a result of my trip, Oxfam will provide farmers with $100,000 they can use to help rebuild after Stan.
Despite all the challenges I see, there are farmers who don't give up. As long as they're willing to fight, then I'm willing to fight, too. Some wins are big, some incremental, and sometimes we don't win at all. But as long as Antonio and other coffee farmers are saying "Si se puede" then "Si se puede" it is for me, as well. Yes we can. We have to.
]]>For that reason Oxfam America's duty is clear: We and our project partners must help reform government policies, laws, and social injustices that deny people the right to live a decent life. We do this by providing funding, training, and the moral support people need to make real, substantive and transformative changes. The courageous and visionary people who do this work are setting out to build a movement for social justice—and Oxfam America is one of the few organizations to which they can turn for the help they need.
]]>Amid cheers from a throng of enthusiastic supporters and international media, Make Trade Fair won the day.
Oxfam's trade campaign was launched.
Within hours of the Hong Kong debut, events were held in 25 cities including Brussels, Dublin, Geneva, Mexico City, San Salvador, and Washington, D.C. These events ranged from press conferences and symposiums to a rock concert in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Oxfam's trade campaign seeks to unite concerned citizens around the world in calling for fair trade policies that will help move millions of people out of poverty.
Nobel Prize Professor Amartya Sen, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and musician and social activist Bono were among those who endorsed the campaign. "Oxfam has got it right," said Bono. "It wouldn't cost much to change the rules of trade so that poor countries can work their way out of poverty. But the world's leaders won't act unless they hear enough people telling them."
Also in this issue of EXCHANGE, writers Frances and Anna Lappé discuss their book Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet, and we bring you updates on Oxfam's work with water and sanitation, drought in Ethiopia, and indigenous women in the highlands of Peru who are speaking out after decades of violence.
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