Haiti Farmers Inspire Optimism for Coffee Crop
Tommy Bassett (right) of the Just Trade Center, sips coffee with COCANO President Aleus Cadet. A fair trade expert, Bassett helps small-scale farmers establish fair trade cooperatives. Photo courtesy of St. Thomas University
We recently wrote about the COCANO fair trade coffee cooperative in northwest Haiti that received support from the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Fund. Working in conjunction with St. Thomas University in Miami, the cooperative is nearly ready to harvest its second batch of rich, organic coffee that will eventually make its way to U.S. markets.
Tommy Bassett of the Just Trade Center is a seasoned fair trade expert who is helping make the project a success. With funding from the grant, he was hired to give the cooperative guidance and has accompanied members of St. Thomas University on several trips to Haiti.
Though enthusiastic, he admits that growing coffee in environmentally and economically-depressed Haiti is no easy feat. However, the silver-lining of the Haiti cooperative lies with the spirit of coffee farmers. To explain why, Bassett vividly describes his pleasant experience sipping locally grown coffee with his Haitian comrades, way up in the mountains. “Man we could see the ocean,” he muses, adding that coffee growers have a strong connection to their land and plants. “The farmer almost names his coffee trees he loves them so much.”
The COCANO cooperative in northwest Haiti harvested and shipped its first batch of coffee to a roaster in Italy. Photo courtesy of St. Thomas University
“Coffee farmers are great folks,” he explains.
“The main reason [I keep going back] is the faces of the growers and the kids. They have a rural existence that’s very much in tune with nature,” he says. “There’s optimism although the need is really great. The less food people have the more they pray. This feeling really comes out when you hang out with them.”
So Many Needs
Bassett says Haitians can use coffee to get the ball rolling on their economy. “They need education, healthcare, sustainable shelter and food. Coffee can be a vehicle to provide how they want to address these four areas,” Bassett says.
There’s a lot of history with Haiti and coffee. The country was a major exporter, but today its coffee industry is struggling. “What I’m doing in Haiti is helping the farmers reconnect to their coffee,” Bassett says.
But Bassett also sheds light on the challenges that lie ahead. When he first toured the Northwest Department, where COCANO is based, he saw coffee trees ruined from years, perhaps decades of neglect. He likens coffee bushes to roses. “If it is abandoned and not pruned correctly it won’t grow coffee beans.” Coffee is very labor intensive, he adds. It has to grow in shade, 2,000 to 6,000-feet above sea level on the mountainside.
Haiti has been an ideal spot for growing rich coffee. But in Haiti, the level of poverty is so immense that residents struggle just o meet their immediate needs, like food and shelter. The country is poor, so the infrastructure—mostly the roads—is almost non-existent, says Bassett.
“We’re talking about mountain roads, basically in a rainforest. Travel is a pain because you spend five hours to go 35 miles.” To top things off, coffee needs shade to grow but many of the shade trees in Haiti have been cut down for coal.
Despite the hurdles, he explains that coffee can still be a viable industry in Haiti. That and Haiti’s farmers fuel his optimism.
Tags: Haiti
4 Responses to “Haiti Farmers Inspire Optimism for Coffee Crop”
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October 29th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I think it’s awesome help Haiti to have the coffee back so 30 years ago coffee was a viable industry for Haiti population.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Sounds pretty good. The nice thing about fair trade is that it is structured to form a basis for community development. I’ve been a fan of Fair Trade and reading about it a bit, including in Rwanda. I hope to read about some community investments in fruit and vegetable gardens there in l’Haiti!
January 17th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
[...] Haiti Farmers Inspire Optimism fοr Coffee Crop | Voices οf CRS [...]
January 31st, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Great story. The promotion of fair trade in another place in our back yard in promising. John.Rossini@travelchocolate.com (www.travelchocolate.com)