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!