What We Do
We believe lasting solutions to hunger come from strategies that fit the community.
Our approach reflects the priorities and challenges of the families and communities we serve. Together, we create long-term, effective solutions to food insecurity that diversify income, support adaptation to climate change, build gender equity, and improve livelihoods.
What We Do
We believe that lasting solutions to hunger come from effective strategies that fit the community.
Food 4 Farmers’ approach is driven by the priorities and challenges of the families and communities we serve. Together, we create long-term, effective solutions to food insecurity that provide for income diversification, support adaptation to climate change, build gender equity, and improve livelihoods.
History
In 2007, a research team from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) was commissioned by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to develop an understanding of the community challenges faced by small-scale coffee farmers in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico. The team, which included our co-founder Rick Peyser, conducted one-on-one interviews with hundreds of individuals and families on their farms, in community centers, in cooperative offices, and in homes.
The research revealed that “even producers who receive fair trade premiums suffer a period of food insecurity ranging from one to seven months of the year – every year.” Of the farmers interviewed, 67% experienced 3 to 8 months of extreme food scarcity each year. Families often refer to this period as “los meses flacos,” the Thin Months of hunger.
The causes include a combination of low coffee prices, dependence on a single crop for income, limited access to finance, and lack of opportunity to make substantive changes, resulting in a poverty trap for millions of families.
Food 4 Farmers
In 2010, people from the specialty coffee industry, academic researchers, and organizations working to alleviate hunger came together to strategize about how to help coffee-growing communities overcome food insecurity and build sustainable livelihoods.
From these conversations came Food 4 Farmers, an NGO helping coffee-growing communities fill the gap between their income from coffee and the income required for a decent quality of life.
We began our work in 2011, using the commitment of the coffee industry, collaborations with international development organizations, and co-op partners dedicated to sustainable agriculture, local food systems, and new economic opportunities for those left behind, to build lasting, community-appropriate solutions to food insecurity.
RESOURCES
Food security and smallholder coffee production: Current issues and future directions, 2012 (PDF)
Thin Months: Why Are Coffee Producers Going Hungry?, Perfect Daily Grind
Thin Months Revisited: Food Scarcity in Green Mountain’s Supply Chain from 2007 to 2013, Daily Coffee News