How should coffee companies invest at origin?
Over the the past few months, I have found myself talking with a broad range of stakeholders in the specialty coffee industry — importers, roasters, other NGOs, academics, etc. — about how coffee...
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“It is going to be ugly”
A few months ago I reflected here on how high prices can be a double-edged sword for smallholder farmers. As we move into full harvest season here in Central America, prices are at record highs....
View ArticleWhat that study means to me
Yesterday I provided a detailed summary of a recent study on the economic impacts of Fair Trade and organic certifications. Today, what it means to me in my work. IT IS NOT TIME TO GIVE UP ON...
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CAFE Livelihoods draws to a close
Today, the CAFE Livelihoods project that I have been working on in one capacity or another since late 2007 draws to a close. As we prepare the final project report in the coming weeks, I will share...
View ArticleOverheard at SCAA 2012
As usual, this year’s SCAA was a blur, with great coffee from the country’s best roasters and baristas fueling long days and late nights punctuated by lots of thought-provoking discussions. It always...
View ArticleNoteworthy at origin
Today, a roll call of recent developments at origin worthy of note: industry efforts to increase and better measure impact. Reinvestment at origin. Equal Exchange advances in its Congo Coffee Project....
View Article305. The water interviews: Finance
Root Capital was established in 1999 to serve the grassroots enterprises that occupy the “missing middle” of financial markets in less-developed countries: they are too big for microfinance...
View Article340. Pathological collaboration in a time of rust
During last year’s SCAA Symposium, Liam Brody of Root Capital urged participants to be “pathologically collaborative” in addressing the ills that continue to ail specialty coffee. Peter Giuliano...
View Article371. World Coffee Development
Did I write yesterday in rebooting the blog that I will focus ruthlessly on our work in Colombia and Ecuador? Yes. And does this first post address something not directly related to our work in the...
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392. Root Capital doing business unconventionally, again.
Root Capital is the most important organization in the coffee trade that most coffee drinkers have never heard of. The commercial finance it extends to coffee cooperatives in the “missing middle” of...
View Article393. What we miss when we take care of the business
Root Capital’s issue brief on social and environmental due diligence is lousy with insight. But one phrase in particular jumped off the page for me: the one in which it notes that lenders “typically...
View Article394. From due diligence to performance management
This week I am writing about a Root Capital issue brief that describes how the pioneering social lender is using information on the social and environmental performance of its clients to improve its...
View Article395. Root Capital responds to Coffeelands coverage
Last month the pioneering fincial services provider Root Capital published an issue brief showing that its investment in social and environmental due diligence has generated financial returns by...
View Article396. SCAA Expo: The view from the coffeelands
SCAA’s 2014 Expo opens in a little more than a month, which means it’s time for the annual CRS Coffeelands Blog SCAA preview. After a careful review of the lecture program, I wonder whether this...
View Article421. Root Capital shines light on women in the shadows
Back in February, Root Capital released a white paper on social and environmental performance management—the inaugural publication in a series of issue briefs on strategic insights the organization has...
View Article440. Revisiting our 2014 New Year’s resolutions
A year ago we made three New Year’s resolutions on this blog: Generate more results-based evidence. Help the coffee sector navigate uncharted waters. Borrow a page from the microfinance playbook. Today...
View ArticleSustainability in practice
Earlier this month I was scheduled to faciltate a panel during the The SCAA Event titled “Sustainability in Practice”–a conversation with five women who are among the best thinkers (and doers) on...
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Coffee Supply Chain’s Hidden Heroes
Dunia Martínez, right, Mayor of Opatoro. Photo by Hugh Aprile. Hollywood loves a good comeback story. So when I think of the struggles of a coffee community in Honduras called Opatoro, I can’t help...
View ArticleThe SCAA Event: Annual Coffeelands Preview
In less than one month the gavel will sound to open The SCAA Event. That means it’s time for the annual Coffeelands preview of The Event’s best “origin content.” In my 2012 SCAA preview post, I...
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Incentivizing farmer-led renovation in Guatemala
Carlos Cano, at a farmer-financed nursery in San Marcos, Guatemala. Photo by Oscar Leiva for CRS. A few months ago, in the offices of Anacafé in Guatemala City, the II Cumbre de la Roya was held, 2...
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