One of our objectives is to provide market access to farmers. The main way we are going to do this is via the farmer owned coffee company in the USA. However, coffee only harvests 1-2 times a year and that is a LONG time to wait for an income. And that means that the farmer’s income is wholly dependent upon one crop and may become dependent on our programming, which is not good!

So, I met with the company in Nairobi who is the main distributor for organic produce in Nairobi. They provide all kinds of produce to higher end retail stores. The farmers we work with are so impoverished they can not afford chemical fertilizers and pesticides; as such their crops are organic, just not on purpose and not certified. The organic distributor has greed to start purchasing our farmers “alternative” produce (beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, etc) at 25-100% premium prices to what they make now selling locally as long as they start a program to become certified organic.

We are assisting with facilitating the certification process through the Kenyan Organic Certification. This certificate is not acknowledged internationally but it is a stepping stone for the coffee to become internationally certified organic. We are going to pay for half of the certificate costs up front and have negotiated on behalf of the farmers for them to pay the rest off in increments via the sales of their produce. This ensures the farmers know that they are part of a team with us and we are not providing handouts, but will help hard working dedicated farmers. This also will give the farmers literal ownership of the registration and the process.

If we connect the farmers to this market, the farmers will have an alternative income (not only coffee) and get paid several times through the year. The next step is an organic farming workshop, where the farmers can learn what they have around them that is natural that can be used to make organic pesticides, fertilizers and ideal foliage for companion planting.

To my surprise yesterday, I learned that the farmers organized themselves (without us asking) and elected a chairperson, secretary, treasurer, 2 coordinators and 3 (women) members to a board with will over see their new co-op. They have even started measures to get registered legally! I am so impressed with their initiative and dedication to making their project work!

Coffee Connections is lead by a Wanjiru

This week has been an interesting week indeed. I arrived in Kenya on Sunday to officially start-up the Coffee Connections program. Having previously lived in Kenya, I relied on friends and previous colleagues to assist me in gaining the correct contacts and information I need to be successful in start-up. I spent much of the first week trying to get operational issues completed: visiting the farmers, buying a car, finding a suitable location for an office, assessing whether the recent killings in the area by an organized group threatened being based in the pre-identified project site, obtaining government support and, of course, fundraising.

Visiting the farmers was an amazing and unique day. Until that day, the farmers had only liaised with the Program Manager, whom is a national staff member. In an area where ex-patriots are not common, rightly so the farmers wanted to meet me. They were apparently not expecting a woman, as many jaws dropped when I introduced myself as the Executive Director of this organization. While gender politics were apparent, I believe I quickly won over their trust and respect as we spent two hours talking about their needs, desires and what I believe Coffee Connections can affect. I was re-named by a man on the street "Wanjiru", which means woman in Kikuyu (a local tribal dialect). The farmers assured me they would work hard and I confirmed we had to work as a team to accomplish all of their livelihood development goals.

After being so encouraged by the eager farmers I knew I needed to open an office and find a vehicle ASAP. The vehicle had to be a 4X4 given the bad dirt roads would quickly turn to mud as soon as it rained! I feel that the NGO Gods were looking down on me, as I met a previous colleague who agreed to sell us his 4X4 for half its value and accept a payment plan as we don’t have enough money to buy it outright! Sure enough the same day we found out that our office would only cost 1/10 of what we expected to pay and the local Massai tribe whom we will be buying cow manure from as an organic fertilizer which is less A LOT less than the shop prices!!!!!! It is funny that I am so excited by inexpensive 4X4’s and cheap organic fertilizers! While many may find me sad, I am over the moon. Now all I need is to find a couple of foundations that will support us financially!

All in all it’s been a very good week! It’s International Fair Trade Day and The Coffee Connections Program will be able to look back at this as an anniversary: the day we started to affect change for Kenyan coffee farmers!