Coffee Kids and SCAA Roasters Guild aim to raise $20,000

Non-profit development organisation Coffee Kids has launched a new campaign, running through October, to support coffee farmers during the months when there is no income from
coffee. Their goal is to raise $20,000 to put toward food security projects in coffee-growing communities throughout Latin America. “Imagine having no income for four to six months every single year. If we want to ensure a line of supply of quality coffee, we have to recognize that quality begins at the farm level. Only when a family can attain a quality of life that allows them to put food on the table today and every day of the year can we consider coffee sustainable,” said Executive Director Carolyn Fairman. The Roasters Guild, an official trade guild of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, is partnering with them on the campaign. In much of Central America, the coffee harvest ends around the end of February. Three months later, most families have spent what they earned and must find a way to feed their families for the remainder of the year. Coffee-farming families face three to eight months of hunger every year. Seasonal hunger leads to chronic disease and malnutrition. In communities where basic health services are hard to come by, these conditions are not easily treated. Due to a host of factors, including population growth, climate change and a growing competition for natural resources, many coffee-farming families are facing widespread insecurity when it comes to meeting one of their most basic needs: food. Coffee Kids projects that establish family gardens, worm-composting sites and provide nutritional workshops help families ensure an adequate supply of fresh, local food, minimising the impact of rising global food prices and the lack of income during this time of year. To help GROW it Forward and to learn more about Coffee Kids, visit www.coffeekids.org.