STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 19 their income opportunities. The money will be managed in a savings and credit fund called FondoMás, organized by Impacto Café, a non-profit in Mexico. "Through micro-loans, the small- scale farmers at FondoMás can imple- ment income diversification programs that stabilize rural communities and provide important ecosystem services," said Grow Ahead director Ryan Zinn. "By equipping farmers with the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to design and lead their own honey initiatives, they are able to secure their livelihoods and contribute to their own community-based development." The fundraising effort will help local farmers finance their own loans without the need of local lenders who charge exorbitant interest rates, according to a Grow Ahead statement. "The program will also help connect farmers to major national buyers while eliminating dependency on predatory intermediaries." Learn more: www.growahead.org PHILIPPINES Production on the Rise This nation's coffee market may be nearing self-sufficiency as it continues to make positive strides toward better quality and production volumes, a knowledgeable coffee trader said recently. "In the next five years, we see the local coffee industry engrossed with increasing not just the quantity but the bean quality as well," Michael Harris Conlin, president and c.e.o. of Henry & Sons, told BusinessWorld in October. "There is a current push for expanding our research into coffee planting, Grow Ahead loans assist growers harvesting, and processing with the goal of further elevating the flavor and quality of our coffee produce." Conlin continued: "The country's self-sufficiency in coffee is, for us, the ultimate dream, and if we work our hardest, we're positive it can come to fruition in the nearest possible future." Henry & Sons has taken an active role in promoting coffee production in the Philippines. The company started the Foundation for Sustainable Coffee Excellence in 2016 with a goal of improving coffee bean quality standards. The foundation's programs include Beans Within Reach which pairs farmers with global buyers in the hope the farmers can produce better quality beans. It also started Cup to Seed to finance livelihood programs and post-harvest facilities, and Coffee for Great Minds to provide training and education help for youth. PUERTO RICO Hurricane Recovery Underway Hurricane Maria ripped away most of Puerto Rico's coffee trees in September 2017. Now there's a concerted effort to revive the nation's industry and help the nation's recovery efforts. The Starbucks Foundation and the Fonalledas Foundation, the company's licensing partner in Puerto Rico, are teaming with World Coffee Research (WCR) to create a sustainable future for this country's coffee farmers. Starbucks Foundation is donating two million disease-resilient seeds and the organiza- tions are working to enhance coffee production across the island. "We have an opportunity and a responsibility to be part of creating a future for coffee farmers in Puerto Rico," said Michelle Burns, Starbucks' s.v.p. for Global Coffee & Tea. "Provid- ing seeds may sound simple, but that's what gets directly to the farmer. It's the purest example of our ability to have a direct impact." WCR determined 80% of the island's coffee trees – an estimated 18 million – with destroyed by winds and flooding. UGANDA Big Coffee Investment The Yield Uganda Investment Fund (YUIF) recently put its money behind coffee. The fund invested about $1.3 million with the Central Coffee Farmers Association (CECOFA), a farmer- owned coffee processor, according to an October report by PML Daily. The money is intended to help CECOFA increase its trading volumes, make operations more efficient and expand its efforts. The investment also will help smallholder farmers who rely on the processing facility, a primary processor of coffee from a network of more than 3,600 small farmers. CECOFA also will receive business development support, an official said. YUIF was created using money from the European Union through the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the National Social Security Fund Uganda. It is managed by Pearl Capital Partners. UK Waste Produces Electricity Scientists in the United Kingdom have found a way to generate electricity using coffee processing's liquid waste. The discovery may help provide some power to farmers while reducing the waste's impact on the local environ- ment, The Guardian newspaper reports. Researchers from the University of Surrey have created a fuel cell that uses microbes to eat waste matter and generate energy. The amount of energy Work is underway to restore Puerto Rico's coffee crop

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