See other conversations in this series.

The Indian government ordered a nationwide lockdown on March 24^th, 2020. People are not supposed to leave their homes and all transport services have been suspended. The largest visible impact of the lockdown is in our nearest big city, Bareilly. There is very little traffic on the usually overcrowded roads. The air is amazingly fresh and clear, and the river is clean—I’ve never seen our environment like this. Restaurants are closed, but some grocery stores are open from seven to eleven in the morning.

Construction has stopped and many workers have lost their jobs. Government provides some food support and guarantees rent so that renters won’t lose housing.

In the villages where Pavitramenthe works, our farmers are allowed to work in the fields—but initially, they were allowed to work only two people at a time. Now this has been relaxed to five at a time, acknowledging harvest labor demands. Since the lockdown started on March 24, Pavitramenthe’s field officers and I have stayed in regular contact with farmers. They told us that they, the farmers and storekeepers, have access to food and cash and are able to get by. The people suffering worst in their villages are landless farmworkers who cannot work due to restriction on the number of people in the field. Many have no access to cash or food.

Fair Trade Farmer Organizations Support Communities

We realized that these landless farmworkers needed help urgently. We compiled a list of what came out to be 4,000 needy workers and began planning a simple but effective distribution of foods, spices, school materials and other basic necessities to the workers and their families. Typically, there are six people per family, for a total of about 25,000 people.

Our staff packages the items in bags at our purchasing center and then uses three trucks to visit village after village. We keep a list of recipients and have them sign for receipt. Our head farmers who are familiar with everyone in their village will make sure that food packages reach the needy.

We completed our first delivery to 4,000 families in mid-April, the second is under way and includes more fruits and vegetables and traditional medicinal herbs, such as tulsi and chamomile. Women in one village are sewing some 100,000 respiratory masks for distribution to adults and children in the villages.

Fair Trade Partnerships Provide Support without Discrimination

About 500 of the 4,000 recipients of aid are Muslims, corresponding to their share of the population in this part of Uttar Pradesh. Pavitramenthe buys mint oil from Hindu and Muslim farmers alike. In the case of predominantly Muslim villages, the people out of work are usually not agricultural workers—since that work is mostly done by Hindus. Instead, they tend to work as laborers in manufacturing and mechanical work, such as welding. In both cases, Pavitramenthe’s head farmers pointed out workers in need who were then included in the distribution of food and other goods.

The seed money for the initial $50,000 needed for the first emergency delivery was provided generously by Dr. Bronner’s and matched by Pavitramenthe’s Fair Trade Fund. Dr. Bronner’s and Pavitramenthe then jointly applied for a grant from the German Development Organization GIZ who will match Pavitramenthe’s and Dr. Bronner’s contribution in staff time and materials. The bottom line: for a total cash amount of about $150,000, we will be able to supply approximately 25,000 people with food, herbs, soap and even schooling materials for six weeks.

Home Gardens Offer “A Gift” Amid Confusion

We expect to do a third food delivery in mid-May—and our hope is that by then, most farmworkers will be allowed back to the fields for work on the mint harvest. The focus of our program will then shift to supporting farmers in their dealings with brokers and government. There is much confusion about government minimum prices for crops. In addition, their payment is slow, and dealers take advantage of the closure of public markets and limited competition to push down prices. Unfortunately, government workers can also be prone to advantaging themselves over farmers too.

We will also support home gardening programs for farmworkers and farmers. In this situation being able to grow your own food is a gift that people—even many farmers—need to be reminded of.

Fair Trade and Regenerative, Organic Agriculture Help Align with Nature

Our relief program fits in very well with our ongoing commitment to supporting communities through fair trade practices and building long-term relationships with farmers. It is just one example of how we engage, it’s part of our business model.

To me, the pandemic illustrates the point that in the long term, we cannot operate in conflict with nature, trying to conquer it. Rather we need to align with nature and understand how it works.

As a practicing Hindu I subscribe to the concept of the five elements in nature. Covid-19 reminds us powerfully that we are ‘All One’—that nature does not discriminate between countries or people. That, if we don’t work with nature, if we exploit it instead, that it ‘fights us back!’. And more crises like this one will keep happening. So, our good health and livelihoods are dependent on working with and for nature—by working with regenerative, organic and fair trade principles and methods we are able to do this. In turn it provides us with sustenance and community that has been a big part of supporting our situation at Pavitramenthe now and in the future.

“Oberlin Summer – Mint” by Edsel L is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The post The COVID-19 Pandemic Shows the Importance of Working with Nature: Reflections from a Fair Trade Leader appeared first on Fair World Project.

CESMACH was founded in 1994 by small-scale organic coffee farmers living in and around the buffer zone of El Triunfo cloud forest, a UNESCO-protected biosphere reserve located in southwestern Chiapas, Mexico. After years of selling their coffee to local intermediaries at low prices, a group of ecologically-minded farmers decided to organize themselves into a cooperative and find solutions to the problems they faced:  low prices, lack of technical assistance, financing, market access, and control over their product and business.  Today, the co-op has grown to just over 600 farmers who sell their high quality, organic coffee both nationally and internationally.

One of CESMACH’s innovations has been to develop a robust internal market for their coffee.  They roast, package, and sell their coffee to cafes, restaurants, and hotels throughout Mexico, and have opened their own coffee shop in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez.  This has enabled the producers to share locally grown, organic coffee with residents, government workers, visitors, and those doing business in the state capital, while diversifying the co-op’s income streams.

On April 21^st, and again on May 7^th, I spoke with Silvia Roblero Torres, Sales Manager, for CESMACH (Cafe Ecológico de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas) to see how the cooperative was doing and how its members were holding up. The following are excerpts from our conversations.

COVID-19 Breeds Fear, Uncertainty

The major cities in Chiapas have been hit hard. Mexico has now entered Stage Three [the most serious stage] and the situation is worsening.  Tuxtla Gutierrez (the capital of the state of Chiapas) and San Cristobal have been labeled red because there are many cases and it is getting worse.  Fortunately, so far there have been no positive cases reported in Jaltenango [where the CESMACH office, processing plant, and cupping laboratory are located], or in the communities where the producers live.  However, neighboring municipalities have started to see a few cases, so their level has gone from green to yellow. We are expecting to reach our peak here in July or August.

At first, there was tremendous panic.  No one was sick yet. But most people get their news from the TV and the news was very sensational.  It was causing widespread panic so everyone was trying to buy like crazy and to stock up for fear that there would be no food or supplies.

The producers live in 5 municipalities.  To date, three of those have not had any Covid-19 cases.  But we are very worried, because in the rural areas, we have one doctor for every 2000 people.  We don’t have health clinics.  The only hospital able to treat COVID cases is in Tuxtla, so if we get cases here, we will be in big trouble.

The restrictions are in place in those three municipalities until May 17^th, and in the other two municipalities until June 1^st.

Farmers’ Cooperative is a Source of Trustworthy Information

Farmers were harvesting the coffee when news of the virus began to circulate.  Many wanted to sell their coffee as fast as possible to whoever was willing to buy, so that they could get money to buy food.  Those were the individual farmers who were not organized in any fashion.  The farmers who are part of cooperatives are also very worried – there is a lot of false information out there – but at least they know that the cooperative is looking out for them.  Much of our role, especially now, has been to provide the farmers with trustworthy information.  So far, the co-op members have continued to sell their coffee to the cooperative.

The most important thing is that people are healthy.  None of the members are sick.  In that sense, we are all doing fine.  Things aren’t really that different than usual.

You could say that the pandemic itself has not yet reached Jaltenango. We are trying to figure out how to run our business during this time and to prepare ourselves for when it does hit.  It is all very complicated, but we are managing.

Building Food Sovereignty at Home

In the past, when we had hurricanes and other natural disasters, we responded by organizing self-help groups. Then producers who were less affected, banded together and brought supplies to those in worse condition. This time, it’s very different: rather than banding together, we can best help by keeping our distance.

One thing that is helping however is that CESMACH has worked with other organizations to start food security projects at the household level [Learn more about this joint project between the University of Vermont, the Community Agroecology Network, and Grow Ahead].  The families planned the type of project they wanted—animal husbandry, gardens, fruit trees, bee-keeping, etc.—and then got trained.  They are now in the third stage – implementation.  Fortunately, this is all happening in the communities and will help provide them with additional sources of food and nutrition, without needing to leave their farms.

Coffee Harvest Needs Many Hands

Fortunately, most of the farmers have already harvested their coffee, otherwise we would have been in serious trouble. Right now, we are focused on the collection process:  things are moving slowly, but we are figuring it out.  The farmers are letting their coffee dry on their farms [rather than bringing it into the processing plant]. Then when they do bring in their harvest, they do so in accordance to a strict plan we have set up so that only one comes at a time. The main entrance to the warehouse is closed and there is a schedule posted with strict guidelines to ensure safety.

The biggest problem for the farmers will be in June, because that’s when they need extra help to work in the farms. It’s really critical that when the harvest is over, the farmers make sure that all the coffee is off the trees (and the ground) so that you don’t attract insects that can damage future harvests. You also need to do a lot of maintenance to keep the coffee trees and soil in good condition. This is very labor-intensive work and the farmers need extra help to get it done in a timely way. Due to social distancing, they won’t be able to get that help.

Social Distancing Slows Farmworkers’ Migration

Our farmers rely on seasonal labor because the work must be done quickly or the farms will suffer.  In this area, we are close to the Guatemalan border, and the farmers here pay higher wages than they do in Guatemala, so we often rely on migrants to help in the family farms.  This year no one will be allowed to cross the border and there are police and checkpoints everywhere to ensure that no one is circulating out of their communities. So, the farmers are worried about these post-harvest months, and then are already anticipating the next coffee harvest and the extra help they will need at that time.

We will need to ask the national and state governments to allow workers to come do the “labores culturales” (pruning, weeding, etc.) on the farms, but in the meantime, the work will have to get done by hiring extra help from within our communities.

Fair Trade Cooperative Adapting to Changes Big and Small

Our big worry for the cooperative, as a business, will come in July when we are trying to pack the coffee for export.  We are not exactly sure how we will do this with the restrictions that are in place.  It’s complicated, but we are figuring out how to do this.

Another issue is rising costs.  For example, typically when we send our coffee in trucks to the port in Veracruz, the trucks return packed with cargo they bring in from incoming container ships.  But now, Tuxtla is empty and there is little coming in and so the trucks return empty.  This means they need to charge us more for their costs.

Our co-op manager and other staff people practice social distancing in the office. We only have one cupper, whose job it is to taste the coffee before it is sold. So our quality control lab is okay, he is able to isolate in the office.  He is from Oaxaca and [due to travel restrictions], he can’t go home to his family anyway, so he is here until the restrictions ease up.  Originally, the government said that the restrictions are in place until the end of April, but they have just extended everything through the end of May.

Local, Online Coffee Sales are Another Strategy to Maintain Income

So, things are moving slowly, but so far it has not been that big of a crisis for us. Of course, this year we had planned to sell 20% of our production to restaurants, cafes, and hotels here in Mexico.  But this will no longer be possible as our coffee sales to cafes are down 70% and supermarkets are down 60%.  We had to close our coffee shop in Tuxtla Gutierrez, as that is the city in Chiapas with the most severe outbreak of the coronavirus.  So the only sales we can do within Mexico are the sales of packaged coffee through small distributors.  Fortunately, we had just launched an online coffee sales program a few months ago, and we have seen an increase in online coffee sales.  That’s probably all we will be able to do until the restrictions lift.

We are doing what we can.  Please know that we are continuing to work.  We are communicating with our members through WhatsApp and by phone so that they have reliable information about how to keep safe and how we will modify our business practices.  We will keep producing and shipping our coffee, because we know that many people need this beverage.

CESMACH’s coffee, along with that from many other small-scale farmer organizations, is available from many of the roasters listed on our Mission-Driven Brands page.. While demand at supermarkets is up, many coffee companies are seeing demand drop as coffee shops and universities close—now is a great time to support your local fair trade roaster.

The post Small-Scale Coffee Farmers in Chiapas Persevere in COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on Fair World Project.

As we approach World Fair Trade Day in the middle of a global pandemic, these words help shape my thoughts both on what needs to change, and how the principles at the heart of the fair trade movement can guide those changes.

“Stay Calm and Unified and Work Together”

This theme of working together runs through the conversations we have published. Alex Flores of Aprainores co-op in El Salvador reflects on the difficulties the cashew farmers he works with face, yet notes that, “This shows again, the importance of being a cooperative.” The challenges of unorganized farmers and those without fair trade relationships are even greater as long-term buyers come through with contracts, and with flexibility and understanding for their fair trade partners.

The cooperative is also a strength in itself, as staff reach out to members and connect, “to assure them that we can do this; and to encourage everyone to have patience.  That’s how we’ll get through to the other side,” assures Flores. Minimum prices help. Fair trade premium funds are being used for vital health supplies and education in the COVID-19 crisis. Yet one of the greatest values of fair trade is the human infrastructure that it creates: the organizations that deliver those supplies and the human connections that sustain them.

The Best Worker Protection: A Voice in the Workplace

Last week, in my community and all across the U.S., workers organized strikes at Amazon, FedEx, Instacart, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods. They called for better protective equipment, sick leave, and other protections as they face the reality of having been deemed essential yet treated as expendable—even as those at the top of their companies earn billions. The May Day strikes and sick-outs were dramatic, earning press coverage, and hopefully bringing much-needed changes to the issues workers raise. Yet behind the dramatic events themselves, there is a quieter story. The story of everyday organizing, of coming together to recognize common needs. The work of having conversations and building trust. While most of these workers are not members of a traditional union, their unity and solidarity represent a key value of the organized labor movement—and their greatest strength.

Throughout this pandemic, grocery stores have been modifying their operations to be safer for people who work and shop there. My local worker-owned food co-op was one of the first to adopt some of the strongest safety measures. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Costco with its largely union workforce has been the first of the big national grocers to require all customers to wear masks in their stores.  For years, we have been highlighting how important it is for the farmers and workers who are the intended beneficiaries to be included in the development of fair trade standards. Now it’s as clear as the Plexiglas screen at the checkout station: the best-protected workers are those who have a voice in the workplace.

Collaboration over Competition, People over Profit

The scramble to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the priorities of our economy: profits at just about any cost. We see it as fast fashion brands walk away from contracts with factories in Bangladesh, India, and Southeast Asia. Brands chose to manufacture in those locations to cut costs and pay skilled garment workers low wages. Then, as lockdowns closed stores in the U.S., UK, and Europe, too many brands took advantage of the long, opaque supply chains that they have built to distance themselves still further from the people who make their clothes, refusing to pay for orders in progress or even those already completed.  The result: dire warnings that hunger may hit already impoverished workers even harder than the pandemic.

Fair trade artisan groups are not immune from the pandemic. Indeed, the artisans making apparel, accessories, jewelry, and other items often deemed non-essential are struggling. Yet, as Erinch Sahan of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) points out, even as resources are scarce, many of these groups are pivoting to make other essential goods—and to collaborate. In his conversation with Fair World Project’s Political Director, Ryan Zinn, Sahan points out that that sort of collaboration is not just a fluke. It is at the heart of how so many fair trade organizations operate every day.

Fair trade organizations make clear that it is possible to put people, their lives and livelihoods, before shareholder profits. Their coordinated efforts and their recognition that we are stronger together are not just an inspiration for surviving this pandemic—they are a model for the economy that we must rebuild afterward.

World Fair Trade Day 2020: Stronger Together

This World Fair Trade Day looks different from so many others that we have celebrated. That future in which all trade is fair has never felt more urgent. The threat of corporate consolidation, that we come through this pandemic with fewer small businesses and more dependence on Amazon and a few other giant monopolies, is real. So too is the call to support those who you want to see survive: mission-driven companies like Equal Exchange, one of the fair trade coffee companies helping drive demand for Santiago Paz’s Norandino co-op, or Maggie’s Organics, working with their suppliers and launching new fair trade outfits to keep workers employed. Or Tribe Alive who, even in this difficult time for ethical fashion companies, is partnering with Grow Ahead to support community-led reforestation. Companies like Dr. Bronner’s who, instead of cutting corners in the pandemic, is taking the next step and committing to Regenerative Organic Certification for their coconut oil—going all in for people and the planet.

Yet, as so many have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet, the push for individual purchases alone rings a bit hollow. If anything, COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of large-scale action and the need for a coordinated response. So far, the U.S. government alone has spent upwards of $2 trillion dollars on coronavirus relief, and more is to come.  This World Fair Trade Day, let us commit to holding our leaders accountable for prioritizing fair trade values, for supporting small-scale farmers and workers in all that spending (click here for one quick action to support). COVID-19 has laid bare the ways in which the status quo was already a disaster for too many people. There is another way—to recognize that solidarity is essential to our survival. We are truly stronger together.

Cooperativa Norandino’s coffee, along with that from many other small-scale farmer organizations, is available from many of the roasters listed on our Mission-Driven Brands page. While demand at supermarkets is up, many coffee companies are seeing demand drop as coffee shops and universities close—now is a great time to support your local fair trade roaster.

Look for other Mission-Driven Brands supporting fair trade values in our full listing, organized by product category.

The post Stronger Together: World Fair Trade Day During COVID-19 appeared first on Fair World Project.

UPDATE (May 14^th): The impact of the pandemic has increased in severity for the communities of Piura, Peru, where Norandino is located. As farmers are now unable to leave their homes to get to their farms, the cooperative is continuing to respond with support, providing basic food staples to farmers in need. Click here to read the full update from Santiago Paz.

Cooperativa Norandino is an established fair trade co-op located in northeastern Peru.  Coffee is their main export crop, but farmer members also grow cacao and sugar. They also process some of their cacao and turn their sugar into jams, all of which they sell on both domestic and international markets. In addition to their leadership in the fair trade movement, members of Norandino are also leading the way, showing how small-scale fair trade farmers can spread new, innovative climate resiliency solutions through community-led reforestation projects. Their name may be familiar to members of food cooperatives across the U.S. after a global cooperative-to-cooperative reforestation project was the focus of Fair World Project and National Cooperative Grocers’ Association’s 2018 World Fair Trade Day activities.

For the moment, “the situation is under control,” says Santiago, but he fears that all could change overnight.  There is tremendous pressure to loosen the quarantine (in effect since early April), as the majority of the population can no longer endure the economic impact of staying at home.  However, Santiago worries that the public health system, already is stretched beyond its capacity, cannot handle the consequences of such an action.

The co-op itself is doing well, and seeing strong demand from international buyers for their coffee and sugar.  His concern is not therefore for his organization but for the country as a whole as the government struggles to balance peoples’ health with their pressing need to earn money for food.

The following are excerpts of my conversation with Santiago, told in his words.

If They Can’t Work, They Won’t Eat

People here are used to living hand-to-mouth,” says Santiago.  “They make their living driving motor cabs and taxis; working in the markets; selling whatever they can.  There is a great deal of pressure to lift the quarantine.  But if they do that, many more people are going to get sick.  There is danger that the whole system could collapse.  Well, it is already collapsing; but not everyone here is aware of the situation. Instead, they are thinking about the other reality, that if they can’t go out to work, they won’t eat.  Most people probably don’t realize that Piura has only 10 ICU beds. They are all full. Peru as a whole has just 500 ICU beds. There isn’t one empty ICU bed left to fill.

Yet despite all that, I want to repeat that today we are more or less okay.

At Norandino, we don’t feel the worst of it right now.  Everyone here is still working and making their salaries.  But the majority of Peruvians, I’d say 70 percent of them, live off whatever they make each day.  So the situation is already unsustainable. Right now, there are people who have absolutely nothing to eat.

The government has given out a large amount of money.  But, there is no more money; so now they will have to lift the restrictions so that people can work. The doctors are afraid and don’t want to work. The police are afraid.  They say that the armed forces have hired people prepared to pick up the dead and bury them.  They are creating special work teams to carry this out.

For the moment, the situation is more or less under control.

Farmers Remain Essential in the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the countryside, the government has said that the agriculture work can’t stop, Santiago explains.  “Farmers have papers that allow them to get around. The banana sector remains unaffected. The farmers are operating and exporting as always.

The problem is in the neighboring communities, where the ‘ronda campesinas’ (autonomous patrols) operate.  They are very strict. They won’t let the farmers go to their farms; they won’t let anyone in or out of the communities.

For coffee, I’m not worried.  It sounds like the government is going to loosen the restrictions to allow the coffee containers to keep moving and go to port.  But my concern is if the government loosens the restrictions and the situation worsens, people will panic and we will enter a state of chaos. Then I don’t know what will happen.

So for now, even though there is tight control, we’re not so affected.  The coffee harvest doesn’t begin in full force until June.  So, there’s still time.   If things are worse then, it’s unclear what will happen.

Strong Demand for Coffee and Sugar

In terms of sales, an interesting thing is happening.  Even though many people have been adversely affected, sales in the markets and the supermarkets are up right now.  It seems like people are stocking up and buying more than ever.

The same thing has happened to us at Norandino.  Last year we had a problem.  We had produced too much sugar and we worried that we were going to be left with a large surplus.  But overnight, all the [international] buyers have been asking for more sugar.  We’ve already sold all 500 tons we produced.

And the same is happening with our coffee too. Our buyers are all asking us for more than they usually buy.  I think they may be afraid that there will be problems getting coffee from other countries.  They know that Norandino is doing well.  So they are buying more than they usually do.  As a co-op, we feel prepared.  We are following all the government’s protocols to safely carry out the harvest, coffee collection, processing, transportation and export.

COVID-19 is Straining the Public Health System

I do worry that eventually we are all going to end up contaminating each other.  The government permits only one member per household to leave for errands. But the banks, markets, pharmacies, and supermarkets are all very crowded.  We don’t have the custom here to stay home, listen to the government, wear masks… it just isn’t part of our culture.  So I worry that we will end up all spreading the virus to each other and our public health system will collapse.

I’ve heard that in other countries, like Germany for example, people are free to go out as long as they exercise caution and wear masks.  And there they have 25,000 ICU beds! Imagine that! So they are able to loosen the restrictions and the country is starting to get to the other side of the crisis.  Here we have 500 beds; imagine, with the precarious situation we are facing. The doctors are worried.  So many have already gotten sick. Yet for now, as I said, everything is under control.

Uncertainty Grows as the Quarantine Extends

At the national level, the President is doing a good job.  He’s taking measures and keeping people informed.  The situation is still under control, and we are following the guidelines.  Each afternoon he holds a two-hour press conference.  But it is here, in the Piura region, that there’s chaos and a lack of leadership.

People have gotten stuck in Lima because there are no buses or planes.  Transportation is completely shut down.  The only thing working is the principal highways, and that is only to move cargo. There are stories of people walking from Lima to Piura to get back home – a distance of nearly 750 miles.  People are near the breaking point, they can’t take being shut in any longer.  They have no more food and the government has run out of money.

The quarantine has been going on for about a month.  It is supposed to be lifted on April 26^th [on April 23, the quarantine order was extended ‘til May 10]. There are voices urging for it to be prolonged and others for it to be lifted.  The current thinking is that the government might end up asking people to decide for themselves, exercising “wise social distancing,” like they are doing in Holland and Germany.  Well, this policy might work well there.  I just got off the phone with someone in Italy: there they have a social security system that is quite strong and the government gives economic support, but here I worry that this approach just won’t work.

What can we do?  We all need to stay calm and unified and work together. This crisis just reveals what has been obvious for too long. On the other side of this crisis, we will need to take a hard look at our lives and habits:  the way we live, work, consume—many things will need to change.

Cooperativa Norandino’s coffee, along with that from many other small-scale farmer organizations, is available from many of the roasters listed on our Mission-Driven Brands page. While demand at supermarkets is up, many coffee companies are seeing demand drop as coffee shops and universities close—now is a great time to support your local fair trade roaster.

The post Stocking Up? The People Who Grow Your Coffee Notice appeared first on Fair World Project.

Living with uncertainty and factors beyond one’s control is nothing new for small farmers and small farmer cooperatives. Price fluctuations, volatile markets, consumer whims, unfair trade practices, and competition from big agriculture are just some of the many factors creating constant instability.  Add the challenge of erratic weather patterns and unpredictable changes in climate. Then add the anxieties that arise from the uncertainties created by the pandemic.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve spoken twice to Alex Flores, the general manager of Aprainores.  The tone of the two conversations couldn’t have been more different, and so clearly illustrate the uncertainty that small-scale farmers and their organizations face daily, pandemic or no.

Small-Scale Farmer Cashews Provide Critical Jobs

Located in the southern coastal area of El Salvador, the majority of Aprainores’ members live along the banks of, and on an island in, the Lempa River.   The Isle of Montecristo is a nature preserve and protected estuary; home to roughly 20 families who fish and do subsistence farming.  Cashews are their primary source of income, mostly sold to fair trade buyers in the U.S. and France.

Despite many challenges, Aprainores has earned itself a global reputation: both for having some of the highest quality cashews on the market, and for the determination and commitment of its members and staff.  Recognized by the Salvadoran government as one of the leading cashew co-ops in the country, Aprainores also plays a vital role in the local economy. Cashew sales provide critical income for the farmers, and the processing plant offers the only source of employment in the region; providing jobs to 70 nearby residents.

In recent years, climate change and unpredictable weather patterns have created new challenges.  One year, an unusual three-day windstorm swept through the region just as the cashew trees were flowering. Winds knocked the flowers off the trees, reducing their annual harvest by 40 percent.  In the ensuing years, they suffered from a severe drought during the rainy season and heavy rains during the dry season.  The rains caused the Lempa River to overflow, destroying farms, crops, and homes, killing livestock, and damaging the processing plant.  In 2016, a particularly wild storm caused the ocean waves to rise far onto the farms. The salt water destroyed 50 acres of cashew trees and the soil, made replanting impossible.

Through all these years, it has been Aprainores’ relationship with fair trade buyers that has provided the co-op with the extra support, higher prices and pre-harvest financing that has helped them weather the storms. Underlying all of this is the most important factor: in a food system increasingly controlled by big players, both in processing and at the grocery store level, it is the relationships between small farmer co-ops, authentic fair trade organizations, and committed activists that make the difference. On both sides of the equation, what matters most are the honest, and often very tough, conversations that happen when each partner discusses their economic, political, and organizational challenges they face: together, they problem-solve the most effective strategies for all parties.

How COVID-19 is Impacting El Salvador

On April 2^nd, I reached Alex who was just finishing up a meeting with his staff and board members. It was the first time he’d been to the office in two weeks, but had traveled the 2-½ hours there because they needed to make decisions.  How were they going to handle the harvest, which was just beginning?  Where would they get the money to loan to the farmers as they do each year at the start of the harvest?  How could they do social distancing and still operate the processing plants so that they could export the cashews?

The country had been on lockdown since March 11^th.  “But, I have a letter from the government giving me permission to be on the roads,” Alex told me.  “Those working in agriculture, gasoline stations, supermarkets, etc. are allowed to work. But the police are out; there are many check-points, and it isn’t easy to get around any more.”

“The situation here is very bad.  We are starting to hear of COVID-19 cases in Jiquilisco (a nearby city).  At the moment, there are 43 cases reported in the country.  But the government says that next week, things will peak. Things are very chaotic and people are scared. Our medical system is so vulnerable that there is a lot of fear.  People are obeying the quarantine because they know that if they get sick, they are going to be in trouble.”

Quarantine Makes Cash Flow Complicated

“The harvest has just begun and the farmers need money to carry it out, but we don’t have any money to loan them.  The only way we can give them advance pay is for us to sign contracts with the buyers.  And the buyers are in such a state of chaos themselves that they are not yet prepared to discuss contracts.”

Typically, Aprainores signs contracts with its fair trade buyers well before the harvest begins in March.  The contract sets a price and gives the co-op what they need to get critical pre-harvest financing. This financing provides the cash that  Aprainores then loans to its members so that they can make ends meet until the cashews are shipped and the buyers wire the money in full.

“We need money.  The situation is very tight; work is behind schedule.  The harvest had just begun when the government announced the first 14-day quarantine.  [The quarantine is now extended through April 30^th.]  The farmers are afraid to do the harvest.  They can’t hire people to help them on the farms.  We don’t know how we can open the processing plant and do social distancing.”

“More importantly, we’re not yet sure if we will have a market for our cashews this year.  Our buyers are also feeling the impact of the pandemic and face uncertainty in their own markets”

Fair Trade Financing Makes a Difference

Two weeks later, Alex was in a much lighter mood.  One of his fair trade buyers had come through with a contract and the financial institution had already been able to wire an advance.  Alex was heading back to the co-op on Monday and they were going to start the harvest.  “Our main focus will be to stay safe, but to pick up as many of the cashews as possible.  We’ll start on the island where it’s safer because no one has been allowed on or off, and get them to our warehouse on the mainland.”

“Our intent is to follow the government’s guidelines as closely as possible.  Tecoluca (the capital of San Vicente where their processing plant is located) just reported their first case of COVID-19 yesterday, so we want to be very careful and work very fast.  We won’t open the plant because there’s no way to work with social distancing; but we can keep the cashews in the warehouse and hope that by July the situation will have changed.”

“Once we have gotten all the cashews off the island, we will begin collecting cashews from the remaining producers.  We are thinking to rent a house so that one by one, the farmers can bring in their own cashews for storage.  Then we can just go to the house and pick them up.”

“They Need Money to Buy the Basics”

“We really have no choice.  The farmers can’t go another month without any income.  No one is coming to buy their mangos; they can’t take their cattle to market.  It’s very difficult for them to sell any of their crops; no one wants to leave their houses.  And yet, they need money to buy the basics:  corn, beans, some sugar, and cooking oil.”

“So this contract we signed with our buyer came just in time.  We can start to give out small loans to each member.  We will just have to take good care to not be our usual friendly selves!  We will be very business-like, very quick, come, take their cashews, pay them and leave.”

“It was critical for us to show the farmers that the co-op is working; that we will take care of them.  This will help keep their confidence up.  Because if we don’t work now; when this crisis is over, hopefully in a couple of months, we will have nothing for the year.  The harvest is now and we have to collect it.”

“And even if we can’t process until the fall, our buyer and the lender are part of the fair trade system and understand our situation.  If it takes until December or January to ship their cashews; they know us; they trust us; and we work well together.  It will be okay.”

Stronger Together: A Cooperative Approach to COVID-19

“This shows again, the importance of being a cooperative. Unorganized farmers are going to have a very hard time right now.  People are afraid to leave their homes.  Even cooperatives that are not well organized may not survive this moment.  Our job right now is to communicate well with all our members; to assure them that we can do this; and to encourage everyone to have patience.  That’s how we’ll get through to the other side.”

I told him I was relieved to hear him sounding optimistic again.

“Yes, this is how things change from one week to another.  We will just have to pay a lot of attention to hygiene.  We will wear masks and change gloves after every cashew pickup.  We will take all precautions possible. The idea is to stay healthy but to overcome this challenge.  Last time we spoke, I just didn’t know how to get out of this corner.  Now, I have a very clear view of how to move forward. ”

The post The Importance of Being a Cooperative: a Fair Trade Leader Reflects on COVID-19 appeared first on Fair World Project.

This conversation took place on April 3^rd, 2020, a little over a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the entire country into a 21-day lockdown. The lockdown was extended for another 21 days on April 14.

How the Coronavirus is Impacting Kerala

As things go, we are doing okay.  Most importantly, all the farmers are safe.  Kerala is one of the hot spots in India, but that is because we have been doing the most amount of testing.  The first cases in India were here.

The first known person in Kerala to be infected with the Coronavirus came in from China; they were able to quickly trace, isolate and treat it; and he recovered.   In February, we had the second spread, with people coming from Italy.  Robust tracing is in place, but it still has its limitations.  The numbers are high, but at least due to tracing, there is no community spread.  We now have 200 infected and two deaths.  But still, it is contained.

Also, a few years ago we had to deal with the Nipah Virus, so we already had developed a set of protocols for handling this kind of situation. This has helped us tremendously.

Kerala was the first to declare a lockdown.  We did it two days before the rest of the country.  We gave advanced notice and things were orderly.  The central government announced the nation-wide lockdown with only 4 hours notice:  They announced at 8:00 pm that it was effective at midnight!  It was the first time we had a total lockdown and that is why you have these horrifying scenes of people walking hundreds of kilometers, some thousands of kilometers, trying to reach their homes. That did not happen in Kerala.  It was much more orderly.  There is community spread and it is a big concern, but we are probably still doing the best in the country to observe the lockdown.

We hope these measures will work.

Small-Scale Farmers Hit Hard by Lockdown

We’ve had a bit of bad luck on the farming side. The farmers are being left high and dry; as is always the case in situations like this. Milk is one of the biggest sources of income for the farmers.  But the possibility of farmers selling milk – that has ended entirely. The restaurants, hotels and shops are closed so milk consumption has stopped, and now we have excess milk.  One large cooperative in Kerala was doing the central buying but now they have also stopped.  This is a big problem.

Cashew collection is having a huge setback and we hope that when social distancing is lifted, we will be able to recover.  We are not allowed to collect the cashews because of the lockdown.  Prices have really crashed.  Cashews are not considered essential so the demand for them is much less. The government announced that they would start buying cashews, and we were encouraging farmers to try to sell to them but that hasn’t started yet.

Thankfully, cashews can last; they are not perishable.  If the farmers dry and store them, they can stay totally safe.  So we hope we won’t lose much of the cashews, though there will be tremendous pressure later to buy them.

Communities Feeding Communities

The southern state of Kerala, where I live is faring better than other parts of India in many ways.  Kerala is one of the states with the best public food distribution and food rationing system. Kerala’s food security is far, far better than the rest of the country, so by that token, we shouldn’t be complaining.  Stories from the rest of India have been really, really scary.

In Kerala, we have set up community kitchens – 1,500 have been opened in the whole state, which means at least one community kitchen per village. In the cities, there are many more. Food is cooked and then delivered to the locations of the migrant workers so everyone has food. There were issues of course: Kerala was cooking its own food and the migrant workers are used to the food of north India. But even that is now being addressed now.

About 1.7 million families got their first free rations on April 2nd. Farmers have been taking care of the workers in their communities and villages.  Thankfully, in the villages, the places where they are staying are not as crowded as in the cities. There are not as many migrant workers as in the cities, but there were some in the unorganized industries, on the farms, and in the shops and restaurants.  They were serving as waiters and cooks and clerks.  Now, none of them have jobs.  And they can’t move back home now.  So the focus in Kerala is on taking care of those people.

The working class is left without income.  The salaried segments; the white-collar workers will, of course, get their salaries and those organized in factories will get their pay for next month; but if you are a day wage-earner, you have no recourse and will have to go 21 days without any job [a time that has now been extended].

I only hope it all holds together as it is playing out now:  if it holds for the rest of the lockdown; that would be great.

People Supporting Each Other

On the positive side, I’m very happy to see that volunteerism is seeing a huge comeback.  There are vats filled with water and sanitizers and soaps set up on the roadside so people can wash. People are setting up community kitchens and delivering food. There is a mix of government and civil society coming together.

There are of course a lot of mistakes being made, but for the magnitude of the crisis, I think the amount of civil spirit is something that is really, really encouraging to see.

We find that in normal times, we don’t call the farmers every day.  Now, we have to be in touch; we feel the need to be in touch.  We have to figure out what is happening in each village. If they can’t sell the cashews, how will they meet their expenses; can we do something?  Very often, there is not much we can do, but the fact that we are calling to make sure there is food on the table; that goes a long way. These are the things that give me a huge amount of optimism.

Solidarity is Essential to Survival

There is a lot of anxiety about what will happen once this lockdown period is over.  What if the markets don’t open? What happens if we are not able to export our coffee, cashews, and coconuts?  Then what happens?  What’s happening in the consumer countries and the fair trade markets in Europe and in the U.S?   If things don’t open up there, then maybe they won’t be able to buy our products?  What would we do then?

But we are finding comfort in the fact that these concerns are shared across borders. For example, when the initial numbers were coming out of Italy, we sent a letter to our partners at Altromercato to see how they were doing. They have a network of 300-400 fair trade shops all over Italy and we wanted to know how they are doing—how they are doing beyond just if they will be buying our products. We want to know how are they coping and surviving in this moment?

It’s very important to me that we not just tell you how we are doing, but to carry back information to the farmers about how all of you are doing.  We want to know how our partners on the other side of the globe are doing.  That information is also very important for the farmers now.

Please tell everyone that here we are all safe.  Our immediate survival requirements are being taken care of.  No one needs to worry about us, in that sense.  Once the immediate crisis is dealt with, then we will have to look at how the farming sector is going to rebuild.  It is particularly hard because we have already had two tough years. In 2018, we had a big flood; in 2019, we had serious crop loss and a mini-flood. We thought we’d be back to some semblance of normalcy this year.  But again, compared to most others in the country, we can’t say that we are in the worst possible position.

So, it’s important to communicate that we are all okay.  By all means, please ask everyone to be safe, to keep their families safe; and once this has passed; let’s sit around and figure out how to pull some sort of normalcy back.

The post Small-scale Farmers in Kerala Respond to COVID-19 appeared first on Fair World Project.