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Good Afternoon and welcome to this
session of the Micro-enterprise Track “ Finding Mainstream
Markets for Micro-enterprise Products”.
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We are grateful for
the opportunity to be able share with you about this special coffee project
called Café Femenino.
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Café Femenino is about women coffee
farmers in Peru, who grow, harvest and process their own coffee.
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Our company, Organic Products Trading
Co. (OPTCO), has worked with the cooperative the women belong to, for the past
14 years.
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There are currently about 750 women
members involved in the Café Femenino project which incorporates 50
communities throughout the foothills of the Northern Andes Mountains.
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Their coffee is imported by our
company and is currently sold to coffee roasters through out North America and
Australia.
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In the remote, rural communities the
women are marginalized and subordinated.
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The result is an estimated 70% rate of
abuse and 30% of the women are abandoned or widowed.
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For years meetings were held with the
women.
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In 2003 the women producers of the
cooperative created their own organization.
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In 2004 they made the revolutionary
decision to separate their production from the men’s.
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In a society where men control
everything, creating their own product gave the women rights and access to
their own income, for the first time in their lives.
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Together, the women and I created the
Café Femenino concept.
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The project and the concept have been
successful. This is due to the long term relationship that our company has
with these producers, and because there are qualified people and good
organizations in country to help manage, train, and support the women and the
project.
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Our company provided an existing base
of customers ready to buy the women’s coffee.
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Because of working with these
producers in a stable and transparent relationship, and always working to
improve the quality of their coffee, we brought to market and excellent
quality product, which is an absolute requirement for success.
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Another key to our success has been
the support of Cordaid, a large Non Governmental Organization located in The
Hague.
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They have provided been pre-finance
funds for the women producers that have freed them from the traditional
exploitative systems of coffee buying and selling.
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Cordaid also supports OPTCO by a loan
guarantee that helps to support the growth of the sales of these coffees.
Additionally they supplied an initial grant for the NGO in country, working to
provide assistance and leadership programs to the women producers.
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Jacob Winter from Cordaid is here to
give you a little information on their part in this project.
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Jacob Winter - Cordaid:
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Good afternoon!
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I have just a few more words on our
role in the background of this exciting Café Femenino project.
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I work for Cordaid, which is an
international non-governmental organization.
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For us, the support to people in
developing countries who are marginalized, poor, and deprived of their rights,
is central in our mission.
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In this, we rely on their own strength
and capacities to take their life in their own hands to improve their
situation.
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Our role is mainly one of improving
their opportunities by fighting in equal power relations on different levels.
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One of our policy lines is to help
open up a fair access to markets that are relevant for them.
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I myself am manager of Cordaid’s
Finance Business Unit. This unit manages our loans and guarantees program.
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We intend to use this financial
instrument where there are poor people who need finance, but cannot access it
through regular banks, because of perceived high costs or high risks.
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In the case of the Café Femenino
project, there are several obstacles preventing finance from local banks.
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In the first place, the coffee trade
is considered a risky market. Furthermore, banks do not like to deal with
small producers who are considered unreliable and costly customers.
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And finally, the fact that in many
countries women are still not entitled to property rights of plots they work
or do they receive the proceeds of their work, which is a serious obstacle.
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So there is a clear case for us to
demonstrate that, given the right circumstances, it is very well possible to
extend finance to small female coffee producers. We hope that gradually and
in the long run, regular banks will be willing to take over this role from us.
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(Organic Products Trading CO. (OPTCO)
is a very interesting partner for us. We already have a long-standing
relationship with them in their cooperation with small coffee producers, both
male and female, in a number of countries.
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And as we believe that greater gender
equality is crucial for development, we look upon the Café Femenino initiative
as a good chance to really get something moving.
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Together, the two of us can cater for
the needs of groups of women farmers: we can support them with expertise,
with access to a market for their produce and with access to pre-finance of
their coffee harvests.
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We hope to conclude an agreement
on our cooperation in this field pretty soon and are looking forward to good
results.
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Thank you.
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Gay Smith – Organic Products
Trading Co.:
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In order to create Café Femenino, the
women created their own democratic organization, electing their own officers,
and making their own decisions as an organization, including how they will use
the additional premium funds they receive for their fair trade organic coffee.
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In order for the coffee to tell the
story of the women coffee producers, our company had to change the way we sell
to our roasters.
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We told them they could not blend the
coffee with other coffees and they were required to label the coffee as Café
Femenino.
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We asked that women in the roasting
company also be involved in the purchase, sales and marketing of the coffee.
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And lastly, we required roasters to
donate a portion of their profits to a woman’s crisis organization of their
choice or to the Café Femenino Foundation. We wanted the hard work of these
women Coffee producers to have meaning for women around the world.
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In the Café Femenino Coffee story,
coffee is the catalyst. The coffee is what creates connections between the
women producers in Peru all the way through to the coffee consumer. The
concept of “universal love” is at the very essence of Café Femenino.
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Women all over North America are
finding ways to connect and support these producers, and it is why we are here
talking today.
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What has come from the Café Femenino
Program?
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The women themselves have benefited
through:
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Improved self-esteem
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More control in their lives
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Support from their husbands
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Support of other women
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Learning to set personal and business
goals
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Community and organization involvement
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Development of leadership and
organizational skills
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Improved agricultural practices
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Increased incomes
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Development of secondary incomes
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Improved family dynamics
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Education for girls
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Reduction of abuse
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The family, community and their
country has benefited through the:
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Incorporation of women into economic activity
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By decentralizing the economy and avoiding massive
migrations to the cities
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It contributes to the formation of centers in rural towns
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It provides a viable monetary substitute for the coca drug
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It helps to protect the environment
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And it helps to preserve the Andean-Amazon culture and
customs
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And finally roasters, consumers, women
in consuming and producing countries benefit because Café Femenino:
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Creates new opportunities for women in commercial
enterprises
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Educates the public about problems of marginalization and
abuse of women in developing nations
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Educates the coffee industry about the problems in coffee
communities
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Increases demand for Fair Trade products
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Creates financial support, through donations, for grant
programs
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Creates financial support for women’s crisis organization
in consuming countries
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Inspires other commercial coffee companies to develop more
programs for women
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Connects women throughout the coffee chain and creates a
support network
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And it is responsible for the creation of the Café Femenino
Foundation – to benefit women and children in coffee communities around the
world
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I am going to let Julie Olson the
Executive Director of the Café Femenino Foundation speak just a minute about
the foundation itself and the work it does.
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Julie Olson – Executive Director
Café Femenino Foundation:
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The Foundation is a separate entity from OPTCO, CordAid,
and the coffee project. As a Foundation, our purpose is two-fold.
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The first is to share the story of the women coffee
producers and to encourage others to begin similar projects.
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Our goal is to strengthen the entire family unit, and key
to our success was the early decision to work within the existing
socio-economic structure.
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Demonstrating respect for their culture and traditions
supports our efforts to foster economic sustainability and independence.
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The
second purpose of the Foundation is to provide financial support. Our
granting efforts support micro-enterprise efforts in these coffee communities.
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As a Foundation, we accept donations from foundations,
companies, and individuals throughout the world. At each step in the supply
chain, individuals and businesses are asked to provide some level, no matter
how small, of financial support.
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The
funds are used to provide grants for programs and projects in countries of
origin. These grant requests are generated in-country, and we ask for grant
applications based on the specific needs of their communities. Their requests
have included:
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First aid kits for these remote communities
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Funding to plant coffee trees
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College scholarship for a daughter of a woman coffee farmer
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Vegetable seeds--to establish both better diet and
alternative crop revenues
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Breeding animals--also
to improve diet and provide alternative revenue sources as they trade or sell
animals as they begin raising more than their own needs require
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Funding to establish a local micro-enterprise bank
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As do many of the women in your
countries, these women represent new century pioneers.
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They came to Gay Smith seeking help,
not a hand out. On their own, they came up with a viable, marketable concept
that is already being implemented successfully in other countries.
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It is improving their family’s lives
and their communities. And just as important, their efforts are improving the
lives of abused women and children in other countries.
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As a woman of faith, God has called me
to support their efforts, and I consider it a privilege to serve them.
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We will continue to work together
towards eradicating abuse and strengthening families by supporting localized
micro-enterprise through our Foundation.
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I encourage you to take this concept,
and apply it as you can in your own country.
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I believe that we can change our world
for the better, one woman, one family, one community at a time.
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Thank you for allowing us to share
with you today.
