Coffee-farming families are facing unprecedented challenges: the ongoing effects of climate change, low coffee prices, and now the effects of the novel coronavirus. In the face of these challenges, we see farmers and families taking greater control of their livelihoods and leading the way to healthier rural communities. 

  • In Nicaragua, families increased income and reduced food costs, while putting healthier food on the table.
  • Young people in Guatemala are finding new business opportunities close to home through beekeeping.
  • In Mexico, beekeepers in our program saw their income increase by 41% from sales of honey and other bee products. 
  • Young promoters in Colombia are helping hundreds of coffee-farming families improve nutrition and encourage the cultivation of traditional foods.

We’re so proud to release our 2019 Annual Report (PDF) reflecting on these and other successes and challenges from the past year. This report is also a call to action. If we are truly interested in a future that includes coffee, we need to ensure that farming families earn or grow enough from their farms to put healthy food on the table every day, at minimum. 

We believe coffee has the power to fuel food security in communities, build strong leaders, and create economic opportunities for women, youth, and marginalized people. When we help diversify income and reduce reliance on export markets, small-scale farmers can stay on their farms, with their families, and in their communities. 

The goal of all our work is to make sure coffee-farming families have choices: A choice in how they want to earn a living. A choice in how they care for their kids. A choice in how they steward the natural world and resources around them. We succeed when they have greater control over their own lives.

In 2019, our collaborations resulted in a marked increase in knowledge and skills deployed to create new on-farm businesses serving local, regional, and global markets. Our partners are on their way to self-sufficiency, while meeting growing local demand for healthy food and using the power of farming to nurture and restore environmental health. 

As COVID-19 has shown, challenges will always be there. But we have seen that when farming families have access to the tools they need and enough time, they can and will build a healthier future. 

This report honors these amazing people. We hope you’ll read, enjoy, and join us in the work.

Click here to download the full report (PDF).

Sincerely,

Janice Nadworny & Marcela Pino, Co-Directors

Magda Van Dusen, Board President