SMALLHOLDERS & SPECIALTY. How organised smallholder African coffee and cocoa farmers are accessing the highest value markets

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1 SMALLHOLDERS & SPECIALTY How organised smallholder African coffee and cocoa farmers are accessing the highest value markets 1

2 Contents THE AIM of THE REPoRT The Aim of this Report About Twin and the Joint Marketing Initiative (JMI) Methodology Defining Specialty Coffee and Cocoa The Case Studies 1: BUKONZO JOINT COOPERATIVE UNION 2: MUUNGANO 3: KOPAKAMA 4: GOLEAGORBU COCOA PRODUCERS ORGANISATION Conclusions and recommendations Bibliography Acknowledgements In this report we want to share Twin s experience of working with smallholder farmers in remote regions of Africa to enable them to access and participate in specialty and other premium markets. In doing so, we want to highlight the crucial role that committed importers and roasters, strategic donors and ethical financers have played, and are increasingly playing, in contributing to our cooperative partners ongoing successes. We hope that you will be inspired by the extraordinary contributions the farmers in these cooperatives are making. Not only are they enriching our lives as roasters and consumers by delivering great-tasting fine coffees and cocoa with traceability, certifications and the stories of their unique locations; they are reviving and revitalising their communities through a collective business opportunity, through grassroots democracy, through the participation of women and lowimpact farming, and, above all, with the pride and hope they hold out for the future of smallholder farming. We hope that through the case studies, you will have a greater understanding of the producers journeys, their achievements and their challenges. Each case study addresses the following research questions: We want this report to feed into wider discussions in the coffee, cocoa and donor communities to inform how we make specialty coffee and cocoa value chains work in as wide a sense as possible for farmers and their communities, for the planet, for the industry and consumers. In this report, our lens is firmly fixed on quality as the central driver which enables social, economic and environmental paradigm shifts, and on analysing what is needed to make these shifts happen. This is based on the assumption that across the whole value chain, we, as actors, are united in our desire to help build a better world through our exchanges and connections with one another, and through the decisions we make. A central facet of Twin s work is to openly share our ideas and experiences as we learn, debate and develop new approaches with smallholder farmer cooperatives as our partners. It is in this spirit that we publish this report. What challenges have producer organisations overcome to produce high-quality cocoa and coffee? What are the most important factors for them to achieve success? What impact do direct relationships with importers and roasters have on the production of high-quality coffee and cocoa? What benefits do specialty markets bring to producer organisations? What are the ongoing challenges and what is needed to overcome them? Twin is proud to be the winner of the 2018 Specialty Coffee Association Award Business Category. The award celebrates innovative business models which expand and promote sustainability within the coffee world. The award is presented every year at the Global Specialty Coffee Expo COVER IMAGE: Buyers and farmers crossing Lake Kivu to visit Muungano s Nyabirehe washing station, before participating in the first Saveur du Kivu cupping competition in Bukavu, DRC, June

3 ABoUT TWIn Twin s vision is for a world where trade benefits everyone engaged in it; where business respects and supports the people and ecosystems it touches; where smallholder farmers have the power to shape their own business and have a positive impact on the development of their communities. Twin is a non-profit organisation which owns a trading company, Twin Trading. This structure allows Twin to combine trading, marketing, programmes and advocacy in a way that builds market systems that can create better livelihoods for farming groups growing coffee, cocoa and nuts. Twin connects actors along the value chain, facilitating meaningful, global partnerships between buyers, roasters, donors and farmer cooperatives. Twin s 3 development goals are for: Economic Development: Access to fair prices for smallholder farmers and for producer organisations to understand market dynamics and move up the value chain to attain more value. Social Justice: Equal access for men and women to assets and income, active and meaningful involvement in decision-making processes. Environmental Sustainability: The ability for producer partners to manage and adapt to climate change and to sustainably increase productivity, promoting agroforestry and sustainable natural resource management. Twin believes that trade can contribute significantly to these goals if smallholder farmers are part of producer organisations that return increasing value to their members over time. One of Twin s strategic objectives is to create and stimulate market demand for ethically-traded, high-quality coffee and cocoa, forging long-term relationships between producers and buyers who recognise the value of this approach and are willing to pay a fair price for it. Twin has developed a Producer Partnership of tailormade investments with farmers that strengthen their individual and collective businesses and meet the strategic priorities of buyers, based around a 6-pillar approach. This approach focuses on: business management, gender justice, governance, market access, quality and processing and sustainable agriculture. Twin has been working with smallholder producer organisations since Alongside coffee cooperatives in Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Tanzania, Twin were pioneers of the Fair Trade coffee movement in the 1990s, working with smallholder farmers as business partners to develop better market opportunities through trade. In the 1990s and 2000s, Twin launched Cafédirect, Divine Chocolate, AgroFair UK, and Liberation Nuts in the UK; all companies have innovative farmer ownership structures, with a founding principle to extend farmer influence and power further up the value chain. Globally, Twin currently works with 59 farmer organisations representing over 400,000 smallholder farmers worldwide. METHoDoLogY Project selection Specialty coffee-producing farmer cooperatives were selected according to a set of criteria. They had made quality a central focus of their strategy and successfully developed their processing and markets. Each cooperative had a different starting point and country context. Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation was selected as the first farmer-owned cocoa-producing organisation to have exported a container to the specialty market with Twin s support. Research phase For each case study, the four producer organisations were studied via a desk review of the available monitoring and evaluation data and donor reports from Twin projects with each of them. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with Twin staff and associates working directly with the organisations. Semi-structured interviews with producer organisation members were conducted in-country with board members, technical staff, and farmers. This served to fact-check and gain additional information, and ensure that Twin s deskbased research provided a fair representation of the farmers experience of working on quality. Analysis phase The successes and challenges faced by each producer organisation were then individually analysed from the available data and interviews. A cross-evaluation was then undertaken to identify which issues featured across all four producer organisations. ABoUT THE JoInT MARKETIng InITIATIVE (JMI) The JMI is a collective international marketing platform of African coffee cooperatives established by Twin in In the JMI we work together to access markets and build longterm relationships with buyers to maximise the long-term value of farmers coffee. This is based on the quality and other credentials often achieved through their participation in the Twin Producer Partnership Programme. By pooling resources and know-how, we realise huge synergies and are able to achieve and sustain a market reach far beyond what any cooperative operating alone, from a remote region of Africa, could manage. Through this business model, based on the principle of practical cooperation between cooperatives, JMI producer members have become protagonists in the premium and specialty markets. The JMI currently markets coffees from eight African cooperatives, adding an annual $2.5 million to the total prices of their coffee exports. 1 Considerations and limitations This research is an in-depth analysis of three coffee and one cocoa producer organisation in Africa, who have worked with Twin and partners to produce specialty-grade products, and have successfully exported to specialty buyers. Twin has recently started to work in specialty cocoa, applying its experience of farmer organisations and developing market access to specialty cocoa. Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation is the first cocoa-producing organisation that Twin has worked with to produce specialty-grade cocoa. The research study is therefore limited in scope, and does not aim to cover an exhaustive set of recommendations. Its purpose is to provide practical and useful points to consider for actors in the specialty coffee and cocoa value chains. 1 73% of coffee volume sold at specialty export prices of over $2/lb, and 20% sold at premium export prices of $1.60 to $2/lb in 2017, with the remaining 7% at standard prices. 4 5

4 THE CASE STUDIES DEFInIng SPECIALTY CoFFEE The quality of specialty Arabica coffee is defined by the Specialty Coffee Association as having a cup score of 80+ points out of 100, with zero category one defects and five or less category two defects in the green coffee, although it is now widely accepted that specialty roasters require a cup score of 84+. The Coffee Quality Institute offers the most widely recognised and comprehensive qualification in the industry: the Q Grader certification. Quantifying the scale of the specialty coffee market is quite different, as the consumer perception of specialty is key. Recent figures indicate that specialty has a 59% share of a $48 billion coffee industry in the US alone. However, this is within a much broader definition, with the National Coffee Association defining gourmet coffee as coffee drunk hot or iced that is brewed from premium whole bean or ground varieties. This includes espresso-based beverages, iced/frozen blended coffee, cold brew, and iced coffee infused with nitrogen (SCA News, 2017). Certifications and Specialty Certified and specialty markets should not be seen as mutually exclusive: certifications can have a valuable role in developing high-quality coffee as well as in stabilising prices for cooperatives. Twin has worked with producers to gain Fairtrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certifications, depending on the market opportunity and following an analysis of the specific context of the organisation and its coffee. Certifications can offer traceability assurance, environmental and governance credentials, and for producers, they offer the opportunity to sell larger volumes of quality coffee with premiums. DEFInIng SPECIALTY CoCoA The International Cocoa Organisation refer to the highest quality cocoa beans as fine or flavour beans to distinguish them from commodity-grade cocoa, referred to as bulk or ordinary beans (ICCO, 2018). For the purposes of this report we are defining specialty cocoa as cocoa suitable for the production of single-origin craft chocolate, which commands a price premium with a target export price of at least twice the world market price (New York and London futures prices). In many ways building upon and learning from the trend in specialty coffee, the specialty chocolate sector has also grown, especially since the turn of the twenty-first century. In the late 1990s, outside of the major multinationals, there were a just handful of small or medium-scale specialty chocolate manufacturers. Today there are hundreds, mainly in North America (by the end of 2015 there were at least 100 companies engaged in full time, small-scale chocolate manufacture; others manufactured part-time or were planning to open businesses soon), with a growing number in Europe and Asia-Pacific. The US craft market (as it is sometimes called) alone has an estimated value of $75-$100 million and processes up to 1500MT of cocoa beans each year. Case Study 1 Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union, Uganda Prior to Bukonzo Joint s formation in 1999, farmers in the Rwenzori mountains sold their coffee as lowquality drugar (low-quality natural Arabica) at a low price. The cooperative union has developed their quality through their micro-station model, a decentralised way of processing high-quality washed Arabica, which its farmers refer to as Owemba. The participative Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology has always been central to Bukonzo Joint s approach, as it was initially formed as a women-led microfinance society with 98% female membership. Case Study 4 Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation, Sierra Leone Page 32 Case Study 2 Muungano, Democratic Republic of Congo Founded in 2009, Muungano is one of the pioneering Congolese coffee cooperatives that helped put the Democratic Republic of Congo back on the map for high-quality washed Arabicas. Their achievements are even more remarkable given the extremely challenging circumstances in getting their coffee to export for the first time, due to a lack of infrastructure, investment, reputation, and industry contacts. The cooperative now owns 3 washing stations, and has built up a solid reputation for quality coffee on the international market. Case Study 3 Kopakama, Rwanda Kopakama is one of the first wave of Rwandan coffee cooperatives set up in the years following the Rwandan genocide to promote community cohesion through the production of quality washed Arabica. Since their foundation in 2005, the cooperative has gone from strength to strength in building up their reputation and infrastructure. They now own 2 washing stations, and in 2017 built their own dry mill, an enormous achievement for the farmers. Case Study 2 Muungano, Democratic Republic of Congo Page 16 Case Study 3 Kopakama, Rwanda Page 25 Case Study 1 Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union, Uganda Page 8 Case Study 4 Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation, Sierra Leone In 2017, just two years after the association was set up, Goleagorbu celebrated a landmark achievement in exporting the first container of high-quality Sierra Leonean cocoa ever to enter the US specialty market. United through a common vision, the Gola Rainforest community has become organised to work collectively on the cocoa fermentation process with the support of Twin, who have applied their many years experience of the specialty coffee sector to working with the Sierra Leonean cocoa farmers. 6 7

5 Case Studies CASE STUDY 1 BUKonZo JoInT CooPERATIVE UnIon 1 Name: Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union Bukonzo Joint average Arabica export price (FOB 2017): $2.35/lb Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union Organisation type: Cooperative Union Number of members (as of Feb 2018): 5,061 farmers (organised into 6 cooperatives, each with between 1 and 8 micro-washing stations under its supervision) Region: Kasese, Rwenzori Mountains, Western Uganda Product: Fully-washed and natural Arabica coffee, SL14 & SL28, Nyasaland, Fairtrade and Organic certifications Exports (2016 season): metric tonnes to Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, UK, US Ugandan average Arabica export price (UCDA statistics): $1.07/lb When founded: 1999 Country: Uganda Elevation: m DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO RWANDA BURUNDI SOUTH SUDAN UGANDA Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union FlaVouRs Of BerRieS And sweet tapioca WitH NicE malic acidity and MedIum body AtlAs CofFee ImpOrtErs, seattle TANZANIA KENYA The context: From drugar to fully-washed Arabica in the Rwenzori Mountains In Uganda exported 4.6 million bags (60kg) of coffee, 79% Robusta and 21% Arabica, with Arabica exports nearly doubling in volume over the past 10 years. Of the Arabica production, the majority of washed Arabica comes from Mt Elgon in the east of the country, with Drugar (low-quality, low-priced, non-traceable, commercial natural Arabica) accounting for nearly 50% of production and coming from the Rwenzori Mountains in the west of the country (UCDA, 2017). When Bukonzo Joint first began collectively marketing their coffee in 2005, the only available market was for drugar. Farmers typically dried all qualities of coffee in cherry on the ground, with little attention to quality and knowledge of best practice coffee processing techniques. The Union and its farmers lacked the necessary infrastructure to produce fully-washed Arabica. Bukonzo Joint bought drugar from its members, paid for it to be locally hulled in commercially-operated multi-purpose hullers, and then sold to local middlemen. Today, Bukonzo Joint produces fully-washed and honey Arabica from farmer-owned micro-washing stations, achieves an average cupping score of 84 and sells to specialty and premium buyers in 8 different countries through longterm buying relationships. Bukonzo Joint s story is a source of inspiration to cooperatives across East Africa, and to buyers globally. How did Bukonzo Joint go from selling low-quality coffee through transactional relationships, with no international market, to achieve this success? Drying tables at a micro-washing station at Bukonzo Joint Farmers at micro-washing station explain processing and quality control procedures to buyer partners Salt Spring Coffee and Atlas Coffee Importers 8 9

6 CASE STUDY 1 BUKonZo JoInT CooPERATIVE UnIon CASE STUDY 1 BUKonZo JoInT CooPERATIVE UnIon InfRasTruCtuRe ure Of The cooperative Cooperative Union central offices; fully-equipped, Q Grader standard cupping lab and trained cupper; dry mill and central warehouse; guest and farmer accommodation on-site; local coffee roastery. The Union employs 27 staff and an additional 9 people during the coffee season. Factors for success Gender justice and quality Bukonzo Joint began as an alliance of savings and credits groups in 1992 and was formally established in 1999 as a microfinance organisation. At the time, 98% of its membership were women. Bukonzo Joint describes how in the 1990s, the majority of men from rural communities would migrate to seek work in urban centres, returning only to harvest and sell coffee as an immediate cash crop. Women rarely had any control over assets or income, and so although they were doing the majority of the farm labour whilst the men were away, they had no financial incentive to work on improving the quality of their crop. As a result, women often harvested their coffee prematurely to sell before their husbands returned to sell the coffee and take all the money. This became a vicious and purely transactional cycle of immediate supply and demand for low-quality coffee at low prices. In 2007, Bukonzo Joint s members began to work with Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) methodologies. These methodologies encourage women and men, as a household, to analyse their current situation and to consider and discuss their vision and aspirations for the future. They then came together to analyse and understand the power imbalances in their relationships and to develop joint vision journeys for a shared future. The practice of joint visioning and planning is extended through to group visions and eventually to the cooperative union level 24 micro-washing stations with raised, mesh drying tables, with the capacity to process between 5 and 40 metric tonnes per microwashing station per day. Bukonzo Joint hosts other cooperatives from across East Africa to learn about their participatory, gender-inclusive approach to running a successful cooperative coffee business, with farmer-run, owned and managed micro-washing stations and sustainable farming practices. Q-grAdeR standard cupping lab and TraIneD cupper, hosts cupping EveNt WitH international buyers SinCe 2016, GueSt And farmer R accommodation on-site, local coffee roastery (CheCk DetAilS). essentially, building a shared, farmer-led strategic plan. This work laid the ground for successfully revolutionising coffee production, processing and marketing at Bukonzo Joint, as the organisation benefi tted from having an engaged membership who had ownership of their organisation s vision and strategy. Today the proportion of female members is 80%, because more men have been motivated by the potential economic benefits that can be gained from producing high-quality coffee and working together with their wives on the farm. Investing in farmer-owned micro-washing stations The Rwenzori Mountains had enormous potential for producing specialty-grade washed Arabica, thanks to the coffee varietals, the elevation and the climate. But farmers lacked the necessary infrastructure and training to produce high-quality coffee. The mountains are extremely steep and inaccessible by vehicle, so building large central washing stations was not a viable option. In 2010, Bukonzo Joint became part of a Twin and Rabobank-funded project along with several other cooperatives in the Rwenzori Mountains to construct community-level micro-washing stations. Why micro-washing stations? This micro-washing station model enables farmers to gain a thorough understanding of the coffee business by beginning to operate on a small scale. This model becomes replicable as farmers continue to contribute financially and with their labour; it is accessible and embedded in their communities. A micro-washing station typically serves a group of farmers, situated within a 1-2 km radius. It processes between 15 and 90MT coffee cherry per season to produce between 3 and 18MT of dry parchment coffee. This is in contrast to a standard-size central washing station which serves up to 1,000 farmers and produces between 60 and 300MT of dry parchment coffee per season. Group members contribute to the cost of construction and thereafter deliver coffee cherry to the micro-washing station. This coffee is pulped, fermented, washed, dried and stored as dry parchment. The Union usually provides the micro-washing Education: Investing in the farmers Bukonzo Joint believe that improving the quality of life for farmers in Kyarumba is directly linked to the quality of coffee they produce (JMI, 2013). The majority of Bukonzo Joint s female members have little formal education. Bukonzo Joint has integrated the participatory pictorial GALS methodologies throughout the cooperative and this is critical to ensure farmer ownership and participation. At the micro-washing stations, feedback from buyers on coffee quality and production is delivered via peer-to-peer farmer discussion and translated into local language and pictorial training; the accounts and balance sheets are shared in a similar way. Several seasons ago, Bukonzo Joint analysed the difficulty it was having in securing sufficient volume from farmer members for its growing demand. It recognised that a key issue for farmers was the need to pay school fees ahead of stations with pre-finance at the beginning of the season to cover operational costs and pay farmers for the cherries delivered. When parchment is delivered to the Union, further quality assessments are conducted, and the coffee is milled, sorted and then exported or sold to the buyer. Because the micro-washing station model is not as capitalintensive as building a central washing station, it provides the Union with enough flexibility to increase or reduce the number of washing stations depending on quality and volumes. For instance, Bukonzo Joint recently reduced their washing stations from 60 to 24 when they realised that both quality and volumes were reducing, instead of increasing as they had hoped. Since making the decision to reduce them, the Union has actually achieved better quality and higher volumes in the 2017 season. the coffee season when they had no cash. To overcome this, farmers were forward-selling their coffee to local buyers for cash to pay the fees. Bukonzo Joint negotiated with schools so that they could pay the school fees on behalf of its farmer members. This was a form of loan that addressed the issue head-on. Members then repaid Bukonzo Joint against delivery of coffee cherry, i.e. in product, not cash. In some microwashing stations this policy was very successful but in others, less so. The willingness of farmers to then deliver coffee against the loan was dependent on a high level of farmer loyalty to the micro-washing station and a shared vision for the future. The micro-washing stations with stronger member engagement and clearer vision journeys had a much higher percentage of loan repayments. This is one of many potential examples of the kind of social commitment and innovation that the cooperative has come up with to address the issues facing its members and within the wider community

7 CASE STUDY 1 BUKonZo JoInT CooPERATIVE UnIon CASE STUDY 1 BUKonZo JoInT CooPERATIVE UnIon Parterships with buyers & involving the community The ongoing challenges Bukonzo Joint members can recall believing that their coffee was sold and used as ammunition a story that highlights how little understanding they had of the coffee supply chain beyond the farm gate. Bukonzo Joint has put huge emphasis on changing this as their relationships with buyers have developed. Bukonzo Joint management communicates buyer feedback to farmers and promotes a coffee drinking culture amongst farmers and staff. [ ] Farmers high up in the Rwenzori Mountains [ ] cut down their coffee trees when they hear rumours of war in order to stop the production of bullets. When [Paineto, General Manager, Bukonzo Joint] sits down with these farmers and explains that coffee is actually a beverage that people consume, they cannot believe people could possibly drink that much coffee (JMI, 2013). Bukonzo Joint now has a specialty coffee hour on the local radio, and farmers take huge pride in knowing their buyers and in competing to be the best micro-washing station. Bukonzo Joint has also made a point of keeping their members motivated, as well as keeping their local communities engaged, in both Kyarumba and Kasese. December 2017 marked the third annual cupping competition, supported by US importer Atlas and Twin. Each micro-washing station submits a coffee for an international panel of coffee professionals, and coffees are selected, cupped, and ranked by score. Atlas and their roaster buyers funded the coffee lab at Bukonzo Joint and when they visit the cooperative, part of their ongoing commitment is to include training, including cupping sample roasting, equipment maintenance and calibration of the grinder. Credit: GEPA - The Fair Trade Company The 2017 event included a final celebration in Kasese for all farmers and the inhabitants of the local town, with a soccer match played by cooperative employees and farmers and a marching band. Government officials and local religious leaders attended to celebrate the success of coffee and Bukonzo Joint. Sharing the success of the producer organisation with everyone is the seventh cooperative principle, Concern for community (ICA, 2018). While the principle itself is altruistic, it also provides a key strategic benefit: other local, non-member farmers are excited by this display of success, and are more likely to want to join the cooperative. Increasing membership will provide Bukonzo Joint with higher coffee volumes, and events such as these strengthen the loyalty of staff and members. At Bukonzo Joint, the micro-washing station model has revolutionised the way farmers process and sell their coffee with enormous success, but there are also many challenges. Bukonzo Joint has consolidated the number of micro-washing stations it operates from 60 to 24. This is a robust response to learning season by season about the optimal balance between maintaining quality and processing sufficient volume to cover costs and make profit. There have been difficulties with achieving the planned quality and volumes forecast in some seasons. There are several factors causing this: an increasingly unpredictable climate, resulting in extreme weather and changing seasons, making processing and drying extremely difficult; access to pre-finance to purchase cherry from farmers and the added complexity of a decentralised purchasing model; increased competition for high-quality washed Arabica now that Bukonzo Joint s farmers are creating a supply and demand. The value of long-term partnerships with buyers, and access to sufficient and timely pre-harvest finance, are key factors in enabling Bukonzo Joint to consolidate its position and continue to be the force for positive change that it has been in the Rwenzori mountains over the last 10 years. AchIevEmeNts for the ComMunIty In 2013, Bukonzo Joint invested the Fairtrade premium in expanding the facilities of the health centre in Kyarumba to include a maternity unit and operating theatre. In 2015 Bukonzo Joint won the SCA Sustainability Award for their work on gender justice and quality and in November 2017 hosted their third micro-lot cupping competition with specialty US buyers in their fully-equipped cupping lab. Together with local authorities, Bukonzo Joint has also repaired bridges damaged by storms and invested in paving the road to Kyarumba and installing electricity to the town for the first time. This has significantly boosted local industry by enabling other agricultural commodities to be transported more easily to local markets. BJCU stands out, not just as an innovator in processing methods, but as a strong cooperative model driving change from within. Jennifer Roberts, Atlas Coffee Importers 12 13

8 CHATTING WITH... JENNIFER ROBERTS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ATLAS COFFEE IMPORTERS GRACE TEMBO COFFEE FARMER AND MWS CHAIRPERSON When we first started working with BJCU in 2010, we found the work that the coop was doing to be so transformational for the area that we knew we d found a good partner. We value the leadership s ongoing commitment to improvement both the quality of life for the cooperative members, and the quality of the coffee that they are producing. We have done more direct investment of time and education with BJCU than other partnerships, largely because they were so new to the coffee business when we started working with them. We saw very rapid improvement over the first several years as they implemented quality control measures in response to various trainings from Twin, Atlas and others. The main challenge for BJCU is that the volume of coffee coming in can at times outpace the infrastructure that the cooperative has in place for processing. It is great to see so many farmers delivering their cherries to the micro-washing station, but the group needs to ensure that they maintain a quality that their specialty buyers will continue to pay top dollar for. From my experience working in Western Uganda over the last nearly 10 years, BJCU stands out, not just as an innovator in processing methods, but as a strong cooperative model driving change from within. Atlas has been purchasing coffee from BJCU since 2010, after looking for suppliers in Western Uganda who could produce consistently high-scoring coffee for the specialty market. Atlas has worked alongside roaster partners to assist BJCU in various quality initiatives, including the construction of a cupping lab and training for the quality control team. Image Credit: Atlas Coffee Importers I m happy with the way things have changed, because now we have visitors. Buyers meet farmers and we get to make a connection with them, so now everyone knows each other. Previously I would sell coffee to local buyers, but the money I got was inconsistent. I now get a better price for my coffee and I know that the new buyers I have met will be back next season. This has been a big source of motivation for me. It s made me carry on with trainings and capacity building to improve my coffee and to keep better records. My message to buyers is that they should continue to visit and guide us. My vision for the future is to buy a vehicle, construct a good house and for my farm to become a centre of excellence for other farmers to learn. I also want to plant more shade trees and fully apply compost to loam soil. I ve had to update my GALS vision journey because I ve already reached a land agreement with my husband, who has given me 5 acres of land to manage. FRANZISKA BRINGE PURCHASE MANAGER COFFEE AT GEPA MBH We found Bukonzo Joint through Twin after looking for a new source of high-quality FTO Arabica. Their coffee is of very good quality and the organisation is very interesting and hard-working. We really value the progress that Bukonzo Joint have made in the past years, and their very valuable relationship with Twin as a facilitator and marketer. Twin s contribution and partnership with cooperatives is for us as buyers a very important link for finding new coffee partners and providing markets for organisations that are only just establishing their trade relationships. During my visit I was particularly impressed by the participation of women at the cooperative. Raising awareness about gender issues in the coffee sector is very important and women at Bukonzo Joint can indeed harvest the fruits of their work, live a self-determined life and secure their families income. Their main challenges are to maintain high quality and to continue delivering coffee on time. We are supporting them to gain the Naturland certification which is an important organic label for the German market and which will hopefully boost demand in organic retail stores. We are providing them with quality analysis, to inform them about the quality of each lot and help them to maintain and improve it. GEPA started to purchase high quality FTO Arabica from Bukonzo Joint in 2016, and since then, their purchases have steadily increased. As a Fair Trade pioneer, GEPA is particularly interested in supporting cooperatives that are just starting out with their businesses. Image Credit: GEPA - The Fair Trade Company Franziska with Quality Manager John Bwambale I know that the new buyers I have met will be back next season. This has been a big source of motivation for me GRACE TEMBO 14 15

9 CASE STUDY 2 MUUngAno CASE STUDY 2 MUUngAno 2 Name: Muungano Muungano means Togetherness in Swahili Muungano Organisation type: Cooperative Number of members (as of Feb 2018): 4230 smallholder farmers (1736 women; 2494 men) in 16 sectors. 2 of 7 board members are women Region: Northern region of South Kivu, Eastern DR Congo. On the shores of Lake Kivu Product: Fully-washed Arabica Coffee, mainly Bourbon, and Coffee Grown by Women. Fairtrade and Organic certifications. Achieved an SCA cup score of 92 for 2017 coffee lot to one US specialty buyer. Elevation: m Muungano Average Arabica Fully-washed export price (2017 season): cts/lb (FOT Goma) Exports (2007 season): metric tonnes to UK and USA DRC Average Arabica Farmer-washed grade Kivu 4 export price (source: current traders offer lists): around 105 cents/lb (FOT Goma) or New York minus 17 When founded: December 2009 Country: Democratic c Republic of Congo CAMEROON GABON REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ANGOLA CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Muungano ZAMBIA VibRanT flavours of CleMenTinE, BlaCk Tea, And tropical fruit CouNteR culture CofFee on coffee from MuuNgaNo S buchiro WasHinG station SOUTH SUDAN TANZANIA UGANDA RWANDA BURUNDI The context: A new beginning led by farmer cooperatives Arabica production in Congo is concentrated in the eastern regions of North and South Kivu and the far north around Ituri, while Robusta is grown in the lower-lying central regions. From the 1960s to the 1980s, when coffee wilt disease decimated Robusta production, the DRC was exporting up to 1.3 million bags of coffee annually. Robusta was exported through the Atlantic ports of Matadi and Boma, while Arabica was transported via Uganda or Rwanda to Kenya and exported through Mombasa. In the 1990s and 2000s, as civil war forced many farming coffee communities from their land, Arabica production and processing infrastructure fell apart. Recent ICO statistics 2 show that the total coffee production in 2017 was 335,000 bags, 26% of what the country s production once was (ICO, 2018). When Twin first visited farmers in South Kivu in 2008, total exports were down to less than 200,000 bags per year (ICO, 2018) and there was no existing production or market opportunity for high-quality Arabica from DRC. Coffee which was exported through official channels was of poor quality and sold at a very low price (typically 40 to 60 cents/lb below the level of the New York c Contract). Furthermore, farmers estimated that up to 90% of production was being smuggled across Lake Kivu into Rwanda (or further north, into Uganda), often to barter for basic goods such as soap. It was estimated that 1,000 farmers lost their lives annually when crossing the lake. While the farmers were in a desperate situation, Twin saw that there was extraordinary potential to produce outstanding coffee, based on terroir, elevation, volcanic soils and climate, that there were highly motivated and determined farmer leaders, and farmers with a huge thirst for change. On Twin s first visit, over 350 farmers walked up to 25 kilometres from their farms through the night to meet Richard Hide, Twin s Head of Markets, and dozens of widows also came together to recount their stories. The production and marketing of high-quality coffee could offer the chance for real social and economic transformation for these destitute communities, and so could kick-start the region s economic regeneration. And so Twin engaged with farmers with the ambition of launching a quality coffee revolution in Eastern Congo, with smallholder farmer cooperatives as the driving force. Together with the cooperatives Twin developed a long-term strategy to rebuild the entire coffee value chain. Twin first secured first secured investment in farm rehabilitation, in governance, business systems and infrastructure, partnering with organisations on the basis of a shared vision. Re-launching the value chain involved building partnerships with local banks, the ONC (National Coffee Board), ethical financers, donors, Fairtrade and Organic certifiers, international freight forwarders and local processors and, crucially, coffee roasters and importers to embark on a risky but potentially highly rewarding journey together with the farmers. 2 Approximately 40% Robusta and 60% Arabica 16 17

10 CASE STUDY 2 MUUngAno CASE STUDY 2 MUUngAno InfRasTruCtuRe Of The cooperative 3 central washing stations in Nyabirehe (10MT coffee cherry processing capacity per day), Buchiro (10MT) and Kiniezire (20MT) employing 170 daily workers throughout the season (April-August). Raised, mesh drying tables with shade nets. Factors for success Unity is strength, and coffee is life Muungano first used the motto Unity is strength, coffee is life to bring together farmers of all the ethnic groups in the area: people of Bahunde, Bahavu, Bashi, Batembo and Congolese of Rwandan origin. Ethnic tensions had been high during the long period of insecurity and war, but coming together to work on a common business, this was progressively overcome. A project evaluation later remarked on the strong evidence for the cooperatives contribution to conflict resolution in the area. The spirit of Muungano has then been applied to the way in which partnerships have been formed with coffee importers and roasters, and many other value chain actors which, through investment and commitment, have enabled the cooperative to develop and prosper. In 2009, when Muungano officially registered as a cooperative with 350 farmers, they had no infrastructure, assets or experience of exporting coffee. Working in partnership with Twin, they rented a coffee washing station and offices, and formed initial partnerships with Oxfam Belgium and UK coffee roaster Matthew Algie. Both saw the potential of Muungano as a source of both high-quality coffee along with socio-economic development in the farmers communities. The cooperative s first coffee exports were made through Twin Trading and were pre-financed by Twin and French ethical lender Alterfin. By 2017, through a marketing strategy developed and executed within the Joint Marketing Initiative, and with business largely supported and brokered through Twin Trading, Muungano had firmly established several long-term buyer partnerships, including a market for Coffee Grown by Women. With successful management of grant funding and Muungano employs 22 permanent staff (including 18 field officers) Q-grAdeR standard cupping lab and TraIneD cupper, hosts cupping EveNt WitH international buyers SinCe 2016, GueSt And farmer accommodation on-site, local coffee roastery (CheCk DetAilS). Fully-equipped cupping lab and trained cupper, cooperative offices. loans, Muungano has constructed 3 coffee washing stations, a cupping lab and has built up an international reputation for outstanding quality coffee. Most recently, through Muungano s own capital and funds from UK coffee roaster Mozzo, Muungano has bought land and is building a new mini washing station in Nyangoma. Buyers and Muungano have formed these partnerships, which are about more than simply buying coffee, by committing to transparency and dialogue. This is achieved through regular contact and through visits, where buyers can see Muungano s achievements and discuss the challenges, to work out together what is needed to make the supply chain work better. These buyers have then advocated and campaigned in their communities for support to help farmers to achieve their goals. Leading US Fair Trade and Organic coffee roaster Equal Exchange has partnered with Twin and Muungano to develop coffee cupping and quality control capacity; Mozzo Coffee funded work to rehabilitate a washing station damaged by El Niño flooding and to build and equip the cupping lab; US specialty coffee roaster Counter Culture gives ongoing quality feedback and purchased a moisture meter to enable Muungano to meet their strict quality requirements; the UK s Square Mile funded the replacement of 20 drying tables damaged by floods; US based NGO On the Ground has funded programmes on gender justice (see also under Gender Justice and Quality below). These relationships go beyond a quality coffee-payment exchange; they are veritable partnerships, based on an underlying respect for each other as equals. Saveur du Kivu DRC & specialty Ismael (right), head cupper at Muungano, cupping with Equal Exchange (left) and Counter Culture Coffee (centre) at Saveur du Kivu Investing in processing and systems To meet their potential for producing high-quality coffee, Muungano s first need was for long-term investment in their own production and processing capacity, and in developing internal control systems. In 2014, Muungano built its first two central washing stations in Buchiro and Nyabirehe, supported through a programme funded by the UK Department for International Development s FRICH (Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund) and Comic Relief, which invested in bringing new African food and drink products to UK markets. The project connected the whole value chain, with commitment from UK roasters Finlays and retailer Sainsbury s to include the coffee in their own products. In 2015, a third central washing station was built with support from Oxfam Wereldwinkels (Belgium). Twin s long-term holistic programme has enabled Muungano to continue working on developing sustainable agricultural practices, gender justice, governance and business management, to make quality improvements, to develop certifications (their coffee is now double certified Fairtrade and Organic), and to expand market access. This work is funded by the UK donor Comic Relief, through their MAANDA project (Twin, 2018). Muungano has also benefitted from participating in an initiative to build the wider Arabica sector in Eastern Congo and its reputation in the market. This is the annual Saveur du Kivu which completed its third year in May 2017 and is the first ever international coffee quality competition in DRC, held in Bukavu. In May 2015, Twin partnered with the Government of South Kivu, Catholic Relief Services, On The Ground, the Eastern Congo Initiative, and Equal Exchange to stage the first Saveur du Kivu. 12 international coffee buyers (mainly from the USA, with one from South Korea) and over 15 coffee Congolese producer organisations participated. The event is fast developing into an opportunity for the Congo coffee industry to meet and share dialogue with international buyers, with the aim of furthering the wider development of Congo s specialty coffee sector. Today, due to roasters and importers positive experiences of sourcing coffee from cooperatives such as Muungano, and meeting their farmers, Eastern Congo is firmly on the map of the coffee world as one of the most exciting and outstanding origins for specialty Arabica

11 CASE STUDY 2 Muungano CASE STUDY 2 Muungano Gender equity The business case for recognising and incentivising women s role in the coffee value chain as a direct motivation to produce better-quality coffee is now well-documented and increasingly advocated for within the specialty coffee industry, by the SCA (2015), Twin (2016), and the CQI Partnership for Gender Equity (2017) to name but a few, as is the desire to support gender justice as the right thing to do. In Eastern DRC, the inequalities faced by women are even more extreme than in many other coffee-growing regions of the world, and the need for change is enormous. Supporting gender justice at Muungano is about creating an opportunity for women to take control over their lives for the first time, and to set future generations on a different and more positive course. That the coffee value chain can be a part of this presents a truly exciting opportunity, whether through buyers and coffee drinkers supporting and growing the market for Coffee Grown by Women, or by buyer and donor investment in initiatives at a household and cooperative level which address gender injustice. Any contribution that the coffee value chain can make to this social movement is extremely worthwhile and very timely. As is well documented, in the ongoing conflict in DRC, rape is widely used as a weapon to destroy women s lives, physically and psychologically, and thus tear apart the fabric of their communities. 3 It is difficult to comprehend or to fully gauge the scale and impact of this form of war against women and their communities. In this context, finding ways to work with women coffee farmers both by addressing the barriers to them becoming registered farmer members 4, and leaders in the cooperative, has been a priority within Muungano that has been supported by Twin and partners On the Ground and Mozzo Coffee. Involving women as members and leaders has also been supported through selling Coffee Grown by Women as a separate product with a premium. men to work together to consider the power imbalances present, and to create social change from a place of understanding, avoiding the kind of conflict that can arise from shifting gender dynamics and power. This work has received ongoing funding from On The Ground, an NGO linked to Michigan based Coffee Roaster Higher Grounds and coffee importer Cooperative Coffees, who have also been committed long-term buyers of Muungano s coffee. Muungano first sold 100% traceable Coffee Grown by Women in 2016 to Seattle-based Atlas Coffee Importers and Portland, Oregon-based roaster Allegro Coffee. This Women s Coffee was developed by Twin and Muungano under an initiative supported by the DFiD-financed Elan Project. Muungano s women farmer members deliver their own coffees and receive payment on certain days. The women also elect a women s committee which administer a Women s Coffee Premium. In 2017, 977 women participated. This is helping to create an economic power shift as well as social change in Muungano. In January 2017, representatives of women from all the cooperative s sectors met to discuss how they would like to invest the women s premium. They decided that rather than receive it as an individual additional payment, they would prefer to invest it in a joint goat-rearing project. Their aim is for every woman member of Muungano who delivers coffee to receive a goat. Their rationale was that goats can be used as collateral to access small credit or a guarantee to rent a field from a neighbour, they can be sold easily to pay school fees or a hospital bill, the manure can be used for organic fertilizer and they are relatively easy to look after. They are also a visible asset with attract other women to join the cooperative. This clearly shows how a community project linked to the delivery of coffee can have wider benefit to the women in the community whilst also increasing the volumes of coffee delivered to the cooperative. Muungano has been working with the GALS methodology since 2014, working with over 350 women and men. There are now 6 female and 6 male farmers who are fully-trained as community GALS facilitators, with the training being extended to 6 additional sectors. The aim is for women and 3 The Panzi Foundation work directly with victims and advocate internationally to end sexual violence against women. Equal Exchange has been supporting the Panzi Foundation since they first began partnering with farmers in DRC through Twin in 2010, donating over $60,000 through its Congo Coffee project (Equal Exchange, no date) 4 See Twin s Women, Coffee and Land Report (2016) Improving the situation for Muungano s female farmers and women in the community is a cause close to my heart Anette Moldvaer, Square Mile Coffee Roasters 20 21

12 CASE STUDY 2 MUUngAno CHATTING WITH... Leadership is a matter of the heart ANETTE MOLDVAER CO-FOUNDER AND GREEN COFFEE BUYER, SQUARE MILE COFFEE ROASTERS Twin has developed women s leadership training at Muungano to encourage and enable women to have increased agency over their lives and to actively participate in leading and shaping the cooperative and its strategy. As gender is key to Muungano s strategy in continuing to produce high-quality coffee, it is important that women are represented at all levels of the business. The leadership training helps women to overcome their internal barriers to putting themselves forward for leadership roles, by showing them how they can take their experiences, their resilience, their wisdom, their determination from their life experience and channel it into leadership within the cooperative. The ongoing challenges Eastern Congo continues to be a difficult origin to operate and export from. The security situation is unstable, and the route to port is complex, sometimes resulting in delayed shipments. Securing sufficient and timely pre-finance to purchase coffee from farmers from the start of the season is an ongoing challenge for Muungano. The cooperative is working through the JMI to improve the situation by putting pre-harvest contracts in place as soon as possible. There is a need for continued support for women and gender equity. Although changes have been seen in the way decisions are made at a household level, it takes time for norms around land ownership to shift. Coffee is still perceived as a man s crop and the percentage of women lead farmers is still low (12.5%) compared with the overall percentage The groups use the GALS tool to create vision journeys, to examine their own lives and consider challenges within the cooperative. It helps them to see that they have what is needed within themselves to lead, while counting on the solidarity and support of the women s and savings groups. Today, 2 out of 5 board members and 41% of farmer members at Muungano are women. Female participation is about so much more than quality coffee, but by enabling it, top-quality coffee, where women s work is recognised and rewarded, can be produced as a result. of women members (41%). The combination of GALS and marketing Coffee Grown by Women has the potential to shift perceptions and norms over time, so that all women members gradually come to feel ownership over coffee and over the land it is grown on. This depends on ongoing investment in GALS and on committed buyers for Coffee Grown by Women. Recently, competition in the region has increased with high local prices being offered to farmers. This can be seen as a sign of the cooperative s success in stabilising and raising local prices, but it makes business management more complex. Continuing to build on partnerships and to invest in building the capacity of Muungano to manage their business and face their complex challenges will be key to the cooperative s ongoing successes. Anette celebrating Muungano s 8th place win at the Saveur du Kivu with head cupper Ismael (left) and President Fikiri (right) In our third year of buying coffee from Muungano, we are excited that the quality has not only remained consistent, but improved. We have developed a relationship that means we are committed to establishing long-term buying plans. After visiting in 2016 and seeing the devastating effects of a landslide, we were grateful to be able to help by raising funds to build new drying beds. This is something we haven t done KYLE TUSH QUALITY ANALYST, COUNTER CULTURE COFFEE The South Kivu region of the DRC has the potential to produce some of the most exciting coffees in East Africa, and Muungano is a partner that has shown the ability to execute the quality and sustainability goals shared by both Counter Culture and the cooperative. Though we re at an early stage in our partnership, we re excited to see what the future holds for Muungano and the emerging specialty coffee market in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The main challenge for us is the complex logistical task of moving coffees efficiently from the coop, to the mill, to the shipping port. There are many hurdles that can substantially delay a coffee s arrival and seriously impact cup quality. In addition, the complexity of the logistics can increase costs on the import side. Because of this, it s vital that the coffee is dried and stored well to prevent quality degradation. We purchased a moisture meter for Muungano so that we could be better calibrated on the physical quality of the lots prepared for Counter Culture. This was one of the topics that we discussed together during our visit in May 2017, as well. for any farm or coop before, but it was a nice way for us to contribute to a dire situation. The work towards improving the situation for Muungano s female farmers and women in the community is a cause close to my heart, and so this year, we re also excited to be buying Coffee Grown by Women from Muungano. We re thrilled to be able to support and celebrate the women s agricultural work, and to emphasise the significance of their invaluable contribution to, and role in the community. Square Mile was introduced to Muungano by Twin. Excited by the prospect of exploring DRC as a relatively unexplored and underrated origin, and impressed by the flavour of Muungano s coffee, they decided to focus on Muungano for their first few years of buying from DRC. They have been buying from the cooperative since Image Credit: Square Mile Coffee Roasters Kyle with Jean Vier (left), Buchiro washing station manager and Daniel (right), General Manager In our first year of our partnership, Counter Culture have been impressed with Muungano s execution of quality goals and their top-notch communication and organizational skills, which are essential for working in an environment as complicated as the DRC s was Counter Culture s first year working with the Muungano Cooperative. They first met Muungano s leaders at the Saveur du Kivu event in Bukavu, and continued conversations with the cooperative, Twin, and Atlas Coffee Importers to develop a lot that met their quality standards. Image Credit: Counter Culture Coffee 22 23

13 CHATTING WITH... ROGER MIRINDI AND ANAWEZA CIZA COFFEE FARMERS We used to be very poor, but since going to Julie s (Muungano s agronomist) training sessions on best agricultural practices, we ve realised how much potential our land has to produce highquality coffee. We ve also noticed that the manual work is much less difficult now, and our yields are higher, so we earn more money. That really helps us to support our six children. Together, we own more than 500 trees, which produce 4kg of coffee cherry each in the main crop. After attending GALS trainings we decided that I (Anaweza) should also have my own land, which I use to grow Coffee Grown by Women. CASE STUDY 3 KoPAKAMA 3 Kopakama Name: Kopakama Koperative y abanzi ba Kawa ba Mabanza in Kinyarwanda, or KOPAKAMA, means the Agricultural Coffee Cooperative of Mabanza a former commune of western Rwanda Number of members (as of Feb 2018): 1002, including 387 women, in 5 operating zones; 2 of 5 board members are women Country: Rwanda Elevation: m Region: Western province, Rutsiro district Product: Fully-washed Arabica coffee, including Ejo Heza (A Beautiful Tomorrow) Coffee Grown by Women, Bourbon, grades A1 and A2, certified Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Organic in process Exports (2016 season): 91 metric tonnes to France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, UK, US Kopakama s average export price (2016 season): cts/lb FOB Average Rwanda export price (2016/17 NAEB figures): cts/lb FOB Organisation type: Cooperative When founded: 1998 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Kopakama BURUNDI SmoOth, well rounded, FruIty notes of BlaCkcUrrAnt and LemOn ZesT with a CarAmeL sweetness TayLorS of harrogate UGANDA TANZANIA RWANDA JULIE NIRERE MUTEGUZI AGRONOMIST AND DEMONSTRATION PLOT SUPERVISOR I work in 10 sectors providing training sessions on best agricultural practices for Muungano s farmers, to help them produce the highest-quality coffee. It s not an easy job when I first started, the techniques I was teaching the farmers were completely new to them. They had to keep practising and practising, and that really takes a lot of time and patience. The good thing is that as a result, the farmers have really cut down on their production costs. Now they know exactly what quantities they re producing and how much they re selling them for, so they know whether they re making a profit or a loss. They weren t aware of any of this before, so that s something that really makes me proud. The other benefit is that because they ve cut down their production costs, they have more money to spend on their household and improve their families lives. L-R: Julie, Anaweza, Roger, and Jonny England of Masteroast When I see that the demonstration plots are producing highquality coffee, I feel so proud of the work I m doing. My dream is to have my own coffee farm, because I ve seen that it s possible to earn a lot of money from farming coffee now as long as it s the right quality

14 CASE STUDY 3 KoPAKAMA CASE STUDY 3 KoPAKAMA The context: Fairtrade cooperatives at the heart of Rwanda s quality revolution Factors for success Sustainable farming and human rights are inextricably linked In Rwanda produced 307,000 60kg bags of green coffee. Coffee is grown by around 355,771 farmers and covers more than 35,000 hectares of the Land of a Thousand Hills. Fully-washed Arabica accounted for 52%, semi-washed 34%, with just 1% Robusta. Since the early 2000s, the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture (National Agricultural Export Board) has encouraged farmers to form and join cooperatives and worked with international donors and programmes to enable investment in building coffee washing stations to produce fully-washed Arabica. There were 39,498 farmers organised in cooperatives in 2017; 25,609 men and 13,889 women in 88 primary societies which together form 17 cooperative unions united under the RCCF (Rwanda Coffee Cooperative Federation). In recent years, policy has focussed on increasing productivity (largely through access to inputs), seedling distribution, and continued investment in quality and marketing. Rwanda has earned a reputation for producing high-quality, Fairtrade-certified fully-washed Arabicas, with most of the coffee used in blends rather than single-origin coffees. A challenge for Rwanda s coffee cooperatives to overcome is to develop relationships with buyers based on their unique origins, stories and coffee profiles within the country and to differentiate their coffees in order to command additional value. Twin has been working in Rwanda since the early 2000s. Since 2016, Twin has expanded its work in Rwanda through a programme funded by TradeMark East Africa and working with 10 different cooperatives, supporting them to achieve additional certifications required by premium roasters, such as Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and Organic. Zibie Ruhingo Gihango, Kopakama member Kopakama runs its business based on a belief in the statement above. Farmers came together to form Kopakama in 1998 to rebuild their lives and communities following the 1994 genocide, initially with just 47 farmer members. Twin first began to work with Kopakama in 2004 through a project with the Rwandan government (PDCRE Cash and Export Crops Development Project) to develop grassroots cooperatives and, through loans to the farmers, build coffee washing stations, cupping labs and develop the capacities required to access higher-value washed Arabica markets with Fairtrade certification. The cooperative was formally registered in Kopakama stands out today as an impressive example of a cooperative that started out with loans, rather than largescale donor funding, and has steadily built up its assets through a commitment by its farmer members to repay the loans and remain loyal to the cooperative and its vision. Its farmers have a unified long-term strategy focussed on delivering quality, combined with sustainable agriculture and improving gender equality and opportunities for women. The leadership attributes the success of the cooperative in part due to long-term partnerships and strategic support. Kopakama participates in the JMI with Twin and other cooperatives, which has been key to developing this approach and creating a differentiated identity within Rwandan fullywashed Arabicas with a price premium. Investing in sustainable agriculture Kopakama s farmers are embracing sustainable agriculture techniques; they achieved Rainforest Alliance certification in 2017 and are working towards Organic certification. This is contrary to national agricultural policy which favours the use of conventional fertilisers and pesticides to boost productivity. This is an example of where Kopakama can pursue a policy which is beneficial to the community because they have support from and relationships with buyers and donors who promote and share these values. officers and the management team have highlighted how important these staff are to increasing member engagement, coffee volumes and to the wider business as a whole. Field officers are not just about agronomic training but are the main link between the farmers and the cooperative. Kopakama s dry mill Frédéric Hakizmana, General Manager of Kopakama, speaking at the inauguration of the dry mill in November 2017 Twin has worked with Kopakama through the 5-year Comic Relief-funded MAANDA programme on developing capacity around sustainable agriculture, gender, quality, business, governance and marketing. At an early stage of the programme, Twin part-funded the salaries of two field officers, recognising how crucial they are to engaging members and increasing productivity. As membership increased at the cooperative and as good agricultural practices were seen to be adopted more widely amongst members, Kopakama soon saw the value of this investment. Kopakama now fully-fund the salaries for 6 permanent field Alphonse Sure, Kopakama member 26 27

15 CASE STUDY 3 KoPAKAMA Strong, farmer-run business The ongoing challenges Kopakama has established a strong reputation for good business management, having built up its business and capacity steadily over the years. In 2017, Kopakama opened its dry mill. A cause for celebration amongst the whole community, the mill was inaugurated by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture with hundreds of farmers in attendance. Prior to the mill being built, there were only two other dry mills in the whole country, which could create significant challenges in achieving timely exports. The mill is enabling Kopakama to achieve greater efficiency in its own processing, as well as offering services to other cooperatives in the region, and has increased ownership and autonomy in its processing. The loan for the mill will be repaid using Fairtrade premiums over the next 4 years. The development of the mill has removed a specific logistical blockage for Kopakama and has enabled their farmer members to have increased ownership and investment further up the value chain. Whilst Kopakama have made great strides in terms of quality production, member engagement and diversifying and expanding their list of buyer partners, this has not come without its challenges. Access to working capital, especially at affordable rates, is a significant challenge for Kopakama, as with many of Twin s partners. Without access to timely pre-finance, Kopakama struggle to realise their potential volumes and quality, as coffee from members is more likely to be delivered elsewhere. Ejo Heza A Beautiful Tomorrow Addressing gender equality at Kopakama began as a result of the Rwandan national policy to support women and young people. Many women are widows and orphans from the Rwanda genocide in 1994 and a large number of households are headed by women. The Women s Committee began as an informal group created in 2008 by 180 female members; mainly women affected by genocide (widows, wives of convicts, orphans). Kopakama purchased a plot of land (1.5 hectares/3000 trees) in 2010 and allocated it to the Women s Committee. The aim was to use it as a training plot to address the problem of quality and unity: coffee was being neglected by female farmers due to both a lack of training and life pressures on women as heads of households; following the genocide there was a lot of misunderstanding and division amongst Rwandan people, and meeting and working together in the field gradually rebuilt trust and friendship. The women named the field Ejo Heza, meaning A Beautiful Tomorrow in Kinyarwanda. Coffee produced in the Ejo Heza field, and from female members own trees, is all processed as fully-traceable Coffee Grown by Women. However, only the best quality coffee is sold as such, incentivising women to take pride in the quality of their coffee and use Organic best practices. Ejo Heza is also a demonstration plot for other members. Kopakama s Coffee Grown by Women premium is invested in the credit and savings scheme created for the women members of Kopakama, which enables them to take out small loans to invest in their coffee and in alternative businesses to boost their income. Creating marketing opportunities for Coffee Grown by Women is accompanied by a programme of work on gender justice, using the GALS methodology, at household level to analyse division of labour; create joint accounts for families; reduce unnecessary expenses after planning; and build confidence in traditional beliefs on gender and roles. An additional challenge, as well as a risk, is that to achieve their successes so far Kopakama have had to take on significant debt. Whilst they have a clear and realistic plan for the membership to repay this over a number of years, any significant unforeseen risks, for example erratic climate patterns, especially if repeated over a number of seasons, could put them in a challenging financial position. Being able to work in this way is really aligned to the values we hold as a business. Jamie Ball, Taylors of Harrogate 28 29

16 AboUt CooPerAtiVesoPerAt A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. VAluEs Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, selfresponsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. PRinCipLes The cooperative principles are guidelines by which cooperatives put their values into practice. The 7 Cooperative Principles: 1) Voluntary and Open Membership 2) Democratic Member Control 3) Member Economic Participation 4) Autonomy and Independence 5) Education, Training and Information 6) Cooperation among cooperatives 7) Concern for community. KopAkaMa investments in the ComMunIty Built community conference hall Electricity connection to Kopakama and local community Clean drinking water distribution point Built and maintain 2.5km of paved road Distribution of cows to poorer farmer members Board members at Muungano GALS training at Bukonzo Joint KopAkaMa ASseTs and infrastructure 2 central washing stations: Mushubati, built in 2005; Nyagatare, rehabilitated in Both process 15MT/day, or 1000MT over the season. Both washing stations have digesters for water treatment, completed in Dry mill (capacity to process 40MT/day), central offices and fullyequipped cupping lab (completed in 2017) with 2 trained cuppers. Employs 33 permanent staff (including 5 field officers), 10 seasonal workers (employed over 5 months) and casual staff during the season. CHATTING WITH... JAMIE BALL COFFEE BUYER, TAYLORS OF HARROGATE Jamie (third from left) with Mollie (far left), Twin US Coffee Marketer, Frédéric (second-to-left), General Manager of Kopakama of Kopakama, and Kevin Jean de Dieu (far right), Managing Director at Misozi Coffee Company Working with Kopakama has been a pleasure over the last couple of seasons. The coffee is of consistently high quality, and important to both our Taylors branded blends and one of our single origin products that we roast for M&S. Their quality fits perfectly into our requirements, and we are going from strength to strength with the quantity purchased year on year so much so that we are hoping to begin sourcing through a Long-Term Sourcing Agreement in future seasons. THÉRÈSE UWIMANA COFFEE FARMER AND PRESIDENT OF EJO HEZA WOMEN S GROUP Before joining Kopakama, we used to sell our coffee to local buyers for cash, but it wasn t high-quality coffee. We joined the cooperative to find a better market for our coffee, so as a result, we had to improve our quality. Joining Kopakama meant that we could deliver the coffee cherry to the central washing stations. This made a big difference to us, because processing coffee cherry at home is hard work there are also a lot of risks that you won t get it right, and that can ruin the quality. With Kopakama managing all of the processing, they minimise that risk. The biggest benefit of being part of the cooperative is that we ve been able to expand our knowledge of coffee production. The additional trainings we ve received as a result of Twin s involvement has been what s really helped us to understand quality our lead farmers, field officers and demo plots have all helped us to cultivate coffee in a sustainable way. As a result of this, we ve been able to find good buyers like Taylors and Counter Culture. And we ve been able to meet them, too! Together we have been able to work together to address some of the challenges that are most important to Kopakama through joint investment projects, which have made a real difference to the farmers and communities we source from. We have invested in a bio-digester at Kopakama s wet mill, and are helping to support a project that includes livelihood improvement through gender interventions at Ejo Heza. Given the recent low NY market levels we have identified that we need to do some work collaboratively with Twin about sustainable pricing and cost of production. We want to make sure we support farmers to have a sustainable living and continue to grow the great quality coffee they produce. Being able to work in this way is really aligned to the values we hold as a business. Taylors of Harrogate began working with Kopakama in 2016 at Twin s suggestion, following a slight change in their supply chain in Rwanda. They are now entering their third season working with Kopakama, buying RFA-certified Rwandan coffee, and their entire requirement for Fairtrade-certified Rwandan coffee. Taylors have been sourcing coffee through Twin for several years, not only from Rwanda, but from countries such as Peru and Ethiopia. ESPÉRANCE UWARUNGU COFFEE FARMER AND MEMBER OF EJO HEZA WOMEN S GROUP Thérèse (left) and Espérance (right) 30 31

17 CASE STUDY 4 goleagorbu CoCoA PRoDUCERS organisation CASE STUDY 4 goleagorbu CoCoA PRoDUCERS organisation Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation 4 GUINEA Name: Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation (GCPO). Goleagorbu means We who live in the forest in Mende Founded: 2017 for the umbrella association; 2015 for GACFA, the first farmer association Number of members (as of 2018): 1871 Country: Sierra Leone Region: Kenema, Gola Rainforest National al Park Product: Gola Rainforest Cocoa Exports: First export in 2017 of 12 metric tonnes to US. Organisation atio type: Association, comprised of 3 primary-level associations ations (GACFA, TUNKOFCA, and MACFA). SIERRA LEONE A classic hot chocolate BasE with a MeaSurEd AstRinGenCy, very Low AciDitY with light hints Of NouGat and nuts MerIdiAn CacAo Co. LIBERIA Goleagorbu Cocoa Producers Organisation CÔTE D IVOIRE The Context: Developing specialty cocoa with forest-edge communities Cocoa was a major export crop for Sierra Leone before the civil war of , but by the time the conflict had drawn to a close, with an estimated 50,000 people killed, cocoa exports from the country had dropped by over 60%. During the war communities were torn apart and farms destroyed, together with generations of knowledge about cocoa production (BBC, 2018). Since then Sierra Leone has had a reputation for poor-quality cocoa, sold for as much as 25% lower than world market prices and primarily used in cosmetics (BBC, 2018). The Ebola outbreak of 2014 only worsened the situation by disrupting the collection of the cocoa harvest at the farm level, as well as transport for shipping. Smallholders access to imported rice was also affected (the cocoa and rice market chains are intertwined), and significant post-harvest losses ensued (FAO, 2016). A significant number of smallholders in Sierra Leone are involved in cocoa production, due to it being an easily accessible cash crop with low input and labour requirements (FAO, 2016). Today, cocoa represents 3.7% of all exports from Sierra Leone (OEC, 2017), giving it significant potential to improve smallholder farmer livelihoods. The forest edge communities of the Gola Rainforest Subsistence agriculture forms the livelihood base of 90% of the 23,500 inhabitants of forest edge communities (FECs) around the Gola Rainforest National Park. Approximately 75% traditionally grow cocoa, but a lack of access to extension services, inputs and international markets had led to the abandonment of 50-60% of these farms due to low yields and incomes. Prior to the REDD (Reducing Emissions and Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project established by RSPB and local conservation partners in 2012, which succeeded in getting the Gola Rainforest certified for carbon credits, many farmers were focusing their efforts on slash-and-burn agriculture, driving deforestation. The people living in these Forest Edge Communities were amongst the poorest before the Ebola outbreak, and the worst affected by the food crisis that ensued. Twin was invited by RSPB to assess the potential for cocoa value chain development in Gola as part of its REDD livelihoods programme, and instantly recognised that producing a high-quality, forest-friendly Sierra Leonean cocoa could provide a unique and sought-after origin for specialty buyers and be a pivotal focus for the FEC farmers to organise around a real business opportunity. Focusing on quality would mean farmers could get higher prices for their cocoa and move away from the volatility of selling low-quality cocoa to local market traders. It would mean finding ways to work together to build a cooperative business

18 CASE STUDY 4 goleagorbu CoCoA PRoDUCERS organisation CASE STUDY 4 goleagorbu CoCoA PRoDUCERS organisation Factors for success Credit: Meridian Cacao Co. Introducing the concept of cocoa as a viable business for farmers Exporting the first Sierra Leonean specialty cocoa Sierra Leone is a major recipient of donor funding, with the UK alone in 2016 spending 154m on Official Development Assistance (ODA). A key stated objective of ODA is the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries. However, in the past four years in Sierra Leone, the largest sector spends have been on humanitarian and health aid (DfID, 2017). There is a gap in the support available for smallholder farmers to organise their own businesses collectively, for example in the necessary start-up funding, ongoing advice and expertise, long-term investment and access to affordable finance. Small start-up businesses in the UK are provided with all of this as a matter of course. The same strategic approach must also be taken to working with farmer businesses in Sierra Leone to give them the best chances of long-term success. In 2017, the first container of specialty cocoa ever produced in Sierra Leone was exported by the farmer members of GACFA to US specialty buyer Dandelion Chocolate. This is a huge achievement for the farmers and points to the potential of developing a farmer-led quality cocoa sector in Sierra Leone if buyers, donors, local agencies and farmers work together. For the season, the three farmer associations plan to double volumes and collectively export two containers. Overcoming the initial challenges Major initial challenges faced by FEC farmers were a lack of knowledge on production and post-harvest techniques to produce even a basic export-grade cocoa. Sierra Leone cocoa was not on the radar of the specialty chocolate market. Specialty cocoa is generally processed in a central fermentation and drying centre, whereas in Sierra Leone, the cocoa is farm-processed. Working with local partner, Jula Consultancy, and using participatory training methodologies to surmount cultural, gender and literacy barriers, male and female farmers have been encouraged to participate in the new farmer associations and in the training on quality control. Some farmers have begun to ferment their cocoa in small community groups, which is helping to develop more consistent quality and to develop community cohesion. Through training and commitment to quality control, Goleagorbu s farmers showed in 2017 that they could achieve good results through farm or small-group fermentation. As Goleagorbu grows and establishes itself in the market, it will need to make a strategic decision on whether to continue with 100% farm-fermented cocoa, or to invest in a central fermentation centre for at least part of its production. An additional challenge was that farmers were not used to being treated as business people when donor funding was involved. They therefore needed to build up trust with one other to enable them to work together effectively enough to sell their cocoa to a new market, for which there was no previous track record. Together with investment in governance and participative training, successfully exporting their first container of high-quality cocoa and meeting the buyers who were going to make the chocolate also demonstrated to farmers very tangibly early on that a different kind of cocoa business was possible. In terms of bringing quality Sierra Leonean cocoa to the specialty market, proof of concept has been delivered, and as the first bars of single-origin chocolate appear in the US it is expected that interest and momentum will grow. However, the challenge now lies in Goleagorbu s ability to scale up, and make this a financially viable business with smallholder farmers and quality cocoa at its heart. ParTicIpaTivE learning Participatory learning is about developing yourself through experience, not being dictated to. It is a creative problem-solving process, in which ideally everyone participates, including the trainer. Participatory training is about encouraging trainees to discover things for themselves and drawn on their own experience, skills and ideas in a process of mutual learning. The training event or course is only the first step. Appropriate follow-up support is key to ensuring that participants put into practice what they have learned. Why does participation matter? What we hear we forget, what we see we remember, what we do we understand We remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, 80% of what we personally experience and 95% of what we teach others. Edgar Dale This extract is taken from Twin s training module for field officers in Goleagorbu, developed by Twin Associate, Rebecca Morahan 34 35

19 CASE STUDY 4 goleagorbu CoCoA PRoDUCERS organisation CHATTING WITH... Ongoing challenges GREG D ALESANDRE CHOCOLATE SOURCERER AND CO-OWNER, DANDELION CHOCOLATE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, US To continue producing high-quality cocoa, the farmers need to know that the effort they are putting into their production is worthwhile and continue to commit to cooperating and collaborating with other farmers. Each season will bring new challenges, both climatic and price-wise, on the world market. Meeting these challenges requires a robust and flexible set of tools to encourage best practices in agroforestry, forest conservation, fermentation and drying, cocoa quality assessment, and price risk management. Exporting their first container of cocoa to a specialty buyer is a huge source of motivation for farmers, but ongoing commitment to quality will require a lot of work and investment at different levels of the supply chain: material and tools for replanting and renovation of farms; farmer field schools and demonstration plots to model best practice; training on post-harvest practices; and the development of quality management systems and capacity within the associations. Twin s initial work to date has been funded primarily by Comic Relief through a 700,850 3-year programme working in partnership with RSPB, Gola Rainforest Conversation, Jula Consultancy and Rainforest Alliance, running from September 2015 to October Ongoing investment is needed in business management and governance: farmers must be organised, work together effectively and have access to professional skills for the business to succeed. The programme has brought in significant international expertise to develop market opportunities and negotiate the barriers to trade. Developing these capacities within the farmer association and providing information for the farmers to negotiate as equals requires ongoing investment and training. It must go beyond a relatively short-term, project-by-project approach. Grant monies were used as working capital for cocoa buying due to the associations inability to access loans; Goleagorbu needs access to finance to become a viable business. Although Twin has established good relationships with both Sierra Leonean government bodies and external agencies supporting sector development, it is going to require considerable additional coordination and investment by these actors to reach the point where Sierra Leone has a thriving cocoa sector geared up for reaching specialty markets on a broader scale. Growing the market niche and mainstream The niche specialty cocoa market sector is not able to absorb the kind of volumes that will make Goleagorbu sustainable. As the association grows in size, volume and capacity, it will be necessary to grade and segregate cocoa production internally and to build linkages with both premium and mainstream market segments to expand the reach of the cocoa. For this to happen, a holistic investment approach is needed that recognises the equal importance of investing in governance, business management and marketing, as well as quality and farming. Dandelion Chocolate is so proud to be the first US chocolate maker to benefit from the work done with the Goleagorbu project. The project is inspirational, the people involved in the project are dedicated and a joy to work with, and the cacao produced is top-notch. I m so excited that we are able to join in on this journey, and I m excited to see where it goes for everyone! Cocoa production provides good long-term income potential for the communities near the Gola Rainforest, so it s great that we re in this together. I appreciate that Goleagorbu realises that it s not just about cocoa production, but finding partners to buy their cocoa long-term. I love the work they are doing, I love their approach, I love the beans they are producing, and I am excited that they are highlighting some of the amazing aspects of Sierra Leone, both agricultural and environmental. The two main challenges I see for Goleagorbu are scaling up production as the trees are currently quite underproductive, as well as maintaining quality control. With so many people from so many communities producing cocoa, it s always going to be challenging to ensure high and consistent quality. The only investments we ve made up to this point have been ones of time and feedback. We ve purchased cocoa from the group, but over time I hope that we can be even more help! In 2017 Dandelion Chocolate bought the first container of beans that Goleagorbu shipped out to the United States to make a new, single origin chocolate bar. The project is inspirational, the people involved in the project are dedicated and a joy to work with, and the cacao produced is top-notch GREG D ALESANDRE, DANDELION CHOCOLATE 36 37

20 CHATTING WITH... GINO DALLA GASPERINA FOUNDER AND CEO, MERIDIAN CACAO CO. YATTA ANSU GACFA MEMBER Credit: Meridian Cacao Co. We were initially drawn to Goleagorbu because of the Gola Rainforest conservation efforts on the part of the RSBP. After learning about the project and Twin s role in organising the chiefdoms into a producer organisation, we were impressed by the community building and gender equity that this is imparting on the region. Now that we are tasting the cocoa beans prior to shipment, we think this is something the craft chocolate market needs: a traceable West African cocoa bean with a classic chocolate flavour profile. Meridian typically works with producers that have established quality protocols specifically for the craft chocolate market. Goleagorbu is different because we are working with them and Twin to hone in on their production protocols and flavour profiles. In October 2017, we visited Goleagorbu to meet everyone face-to-face and train the warehouse staff on quality control protocols. We are continuing to provide quality feedback as the harvest comes in and the beans are ready for shipment. After visiting Goleagorbu s headquarters and many of the chiefdoms, we can fully appreciate how much work has been done to unite the cocoa producers in the region and orient them towards quality, traceability, and reliability the things we look for in cocoa producer partners. Meridian Cacao Co. works with cocoa producers to import cocoa beans into to the US and acts as a distributor for the growing market of bean-to-bar chocolate makers. Meridian was initially introduced to Goleagorbu by Twin in 2017, and hopes to start buying from Goleagorbu from the 2018 harvest. I joined GACFA five months ago, and I ve already seen many benefits. Before joining GACFA none of us were able to read the scales. Now we are able to, and we read them every time we sell our cocoa to GACFA s buying officer. Unlike before, when we were selling to local traders, the buying officer actually issues us with receipts, so we have a record of exactly how many kilos we have sold, and at what price. The other benefit is that we are able to participate in trainings with the field officers. They teach us how to do group fermentation properly, so that we can continue improving the quality of our cocoa. I only began working with this project five months ago, but I really feel that if we continue for the full three years, we will be far ahead of the other cocoa farmers in the area, because we are ready and willing to work in a group. FODIE BRIMA CHAIRMAN OF GACFA Working together as part of this project has really unified the community, and the opportunity to participate in training sessions has meant that the quality of our cocoa has improved. Before GACFA was set up, we would sell our cocoa to local traders at whatever price they wanted to pay us. If we didn t want to sell to them, we would have to travel to Kenema with to sell it there. By doing that we would have pay extra for the transport, so overall we would earn less money. We now have monthly meetings, and monthly contributions from our members. This has meant that the chiefdom executive committee has even opened a bank account for our savings. Working with Twin and other partners has made selling our cocoa easier, and we get better prices. We are ready and willing to work in a group. YATTA ANSU 38 39