Coffee Changes Lives

I sat still listening to Antonio. His words carefully descended his hand-written business plan. His dreams on paper. A sip from sugarcane sweetened, hand-squeezed limonada. The cool stainless steel cup set next to a dormant orchid, one of the countless pots lining the rim of Antonio's flowering patio. I shifted my weight on the make-shift hardwood bench to get a better view of the family dog frozen in a sun-soaked, belly-rub slumber. On turning the final page, I applauded Antonio with my co-workers. The scarecrow straw hat shading this simply wise pioneer could not hide his proud smile.



Despite Colombia’s lucrative coffee history, local farmers in the region of Cauca have been undercut in the global marketplace. Reaching the lowest commodity price in seven-years, facing an unprecedented environmental supply shock, and exhausted with excessive government control, rural coffee farmers are looking for an alternative to conventional coffee farming practices.

One of Kiva’s newest field partners, Federacion Campesina del Cauca (FCC), is a cooperative of rural coffee farmers making the transition to organic coffee farming. As a Kiva fellow in Colombia, I had the privilege to work with FCC, as a part of Kiva’s catalytic loan portfolio. Let me share a quick example of FCC’s everyday success:

After 20+ years growing conventional coffee, Antonio took the risk to go organic. He left behind the security of subsidies and the ease of comprehensive chemical cocktails. In fact, almost all farmers in Colombia rely on chemical fertilizers and government packages because their upfront costs are cheaper. In contrast, Antonio has a long-term dream for a wholly organic coffee crop that looks like independence, health, and balance.

· Independence

• Antonio is no longer dependent on the government-run monopoly of myopic loans, multinational chemicals, or volatile international prices.

• Antonio is now producing an heirloom polyculture of all-natural fruits, vegetables, and medicine to sustain his family, neighbors, and livestock.

• Antonio is now mitigating the risk of crop failure by creating a local market for organic produce, manure, and fertilizer.

During my afternoon on Antonio's simple patio, I felt a “calor de casa” (the warmth of home) distinct to Latin America. Antonio's elderly mother-in-law picked, squeezed, and delivered that fresh limonada. Naming each flower, Antonio bragged of his wife's gardening as she blushed and left the patio, child at her hip. Grabbing a re-purposed iron trash bin, Antonio proudly showed us his son's innovation for packing coffee. With a sheepish head-shake, his son kept pounding away on the new roof. I recognized the wood as the same from my seat, the beams of the patio, the stable, the kitchen cabinets... Everything in sight had fingerprints.



When we applauded Antonio for his remarkable success, he commented, that “Uno sabe que esta logrando sus metas cuando esta soñando despierto,” (“You know you are reaching your goals when you dream with eyes wide open,”). I sat for a while chewing on that idea. By going organic, Antonio has an independent, healthy, and balanced farm that provides the sustenance for his family's needs. There is no longer a need to look elsewhere.


By partnering with Kiva, FCC will help farmers like Antonio transition away from conventional coffee growing and take the risk of going organic. So on behalf of all the Kiva borrowers in Colombia and the staff at FCC, thank you for your continued support of innovative microfinance through Kiva. You can view Antonio's loan here and support similar organic loans here.

Blessings!

Jeffrey Nelson,
Kiva Fellow KF20-KF22

Finally, here is a video that I composed documenting Antonio’s organic process. The original music and lyrics are written by FCC’s lead loan officer, Arlen Segura.


Translation of "The Farmer's Hymn" by Arlen Segura

Let's raise our voices
and shout in chants
We build together
A dignified way of life
And with our hands
we raise flags
with identity
over our land

And all throughout the land
our food is born
that our sovereignty
reigns
and that unity
bears fruit
In each peasant
as a dignified life

Because you [farmer] get up
at the first light
View the horizon
and the sun of hope
You love the land
because it is your home
and when you die
she will embrace you

I feel my culture
in autonomy
In my blood runs
rivers of joy
That one day we will meet
On the spiritual plane
And the farmer's dream
becomes a reality

That we be strengthened
through organization
As a tool
against the oppressor
So that one day
we will speak without fear
That is to say
power of the people

Because you [farmer] get up
at the first light
View the horizon
and the sun of hope
You love the land
because it is your home
and when you die
she will embrace you

--------------------------------------


Gritemos con signas
Todos construyamos
Un Plan de vida digna
Y con nuestros manos
hacemos banderas
con identidad
sobre nuestra tierra

Y por todo el campo
nazca la comida
que predomine
la soberania
que la unidad
sea productiva
En el campesino
que su vida es digna

Porque te levantas
en la madrugadas
vez al horizonte
el sol de esperanza
quieres a la tierra
porque es tu casa
cuando te mueres
ella te abrazas

Siento mi cultura
en autonomia
En mi sangre corre
rios de alegria
Que nos encontremos
En lo espiritual
El sueno campesino
se haga realidad

Que fortalezca
la organizacion
Como una herramienta
contra el oppresor
para que un dia
sin temor hablar
Digamos que somos
poder popular

Porque te levantas
en la madrugadas
vez al horizonte
el sol de esperanza
quieres a la tierra
porque es tu casa
cuando te mueres
ella te abrazas