Market Opportunities for Colombian Coffee Farmers

Summary

Strengthen earning capacity of coffee farmers in central Colombia by promoting US sales of their coffee at Fair Trade prices and forging business relationships to fuel long-term community development.

Actions

Printer Friendly
Subscribe to Updates
Subscribe to RSS Feed

Share & Save

Spread the Word
Tag on del.icio.us
Share on Facebook

More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

Farmers in central Colombia face a continuing cycle of poverty because of historically low coffee prices. This project will allow the 833 members of four small Colombian Fair Trade coffee farming cooperatives to increase their sales to the US Fair Trade market. This ensures a fair price, direct trade with US buyers instead of exploitative intermediaries, training in sustainable agriculture, and access to credit. Fair Trade sales will fund health, education, and infrastructure improvements.

Activities

This project will train coffee farmers in international business practices, help them tell their stories to US customers with promotional materials, and build relationships with US buyers through meetings and trade show participation.

Funding Information

This project has been retired and is no longer accepting donations.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).

Resources

Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

Each of the four participating co-ops will sell an additional container (37,500 pounds) of coffee to a US buyer at guaranteed Fair Trade prices. This will generate approximately $20,000 in supplemental income for each co-op.

Project Message

Thanks to Fair Trade, our standard of living has substantially improved & the whole community has benefited from the programs we have implemented. I want to thank everyone who supports Fair Trade
- Hernando Restrepo, Sales Manager

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Hernando Restrepo,
Sales Manager
Carrera 7 No. 74-36
Oficina 302, Piso 3, Edificio Seguros Caribe
Bogota,
Colombia
011 57 13437050
Email:

Project Sponsor

Ashoka Innovators for the Public

Organization

TransFair USA
1611 Telegraph Avenue
Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
United States
510 663 5260
http://www.transfairusa.org

Learn more about TransFair USA and the project team.



Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in Colombia and can also be found under Economic Development.

For more information about Colombia, read the Human Development Report on Colombia or the Wikipedia entry for Colombia.

When this Project was Updated

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on July 27, 2004.

How Else You Can Help