Sustainability Webinar: Farm Profitability and Prosperity #3
The SCA Sustainability Center is hosting a third webinar with the Farmer Profitability and Prosperity working group on November 15 at 8 am PDT / 4 pm GMT. Register here to join us.
Update: Thanks to all who joined us for this third webinar in our Sustainability series on Farm Profitability and Prosperity recorded live on Thursday, November 15th, at 8:00 am PST / 4:00 pm BST. Watch the recording above.
Photos courtesy of panelists and Seattle Coffee Gear.
This webinar is part of a series addressing the challenges facing coffee farmers and the sustainability of coffee, especially in light of the current price crisis.
Beginning in January, a panel of industry leaders used the literature review released by the SCA at the end of 2017 as a starting point to discuss difficult questions related to the profitability of coffee farming.
A second webinar on farm profitability was held in September and generated a great discussion both from the panel and from the audience.
You can learn about our moderator and panelists below.
Moderator: Vera Espindola Rafael
With a Bachelor in International Business and Masters in Development Economics, Vera began her career in coffee researching the value chain of coffee for Anacafé in Guatemala. From there she moved into a role at Utz overseeing the coffee program in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Since April of 2016, Vera has worked with the Secretary of Agriculture in Mexico (SAGARPA) on its Plan for the Care of Coffee, a program initiated in October 2015. As the program’s Director of Sustainability and Shared Value, she focuses on harmonizing the elements of sustainable coffee production in the Plan as well as overseeing the market strategy for coffee, one of the Plan’s 36 strategy crops. Vera serves on the Profitability Working Group of the SCA Sustainability Center and has been a volunteer leader since October of 2015.
Panelist: Paul Hicks
Paul is the Director of Water and Land Restoration for Catholic Relief Services, based in El Salvador, since 2009. Paul has nearly twenty-five years’ experience leading projects in water resources management, and agricultural development in developing countries, including Albania, the Philippines, Afghanistan and Central America. Paul’s professional focus is to support people to sustainably manage land and water resources. Paul’s work in the coffee sector has centered on promoting water security in the coffeelands, primarily through the Blue Harvest program in Central America. Paul blogs at coffeelands.crs.org.
Panelist: Peter Roberts
Peter is Professor of Organization & Management at Emory University and Academic Director of Social Enterprise at Goizueta. His current research projects focus on social entrepreneurs and accelerators, on microbusiness development, and on the global specialty coffee industry. For the past several years, he has also been spearheading Social Enterprise at Goizueta, which focuses on making markets work for more people, in more places, in more ways. This led to the establishment of the global Entrepreneurship Database Program, the Start:ME accelerator program, and the Transparent Trade Coffee and Grounds for Empowerment programs.
Panelist: Ivania Rivera
Ivania is the head of Specialty Coffee at Aldea Global, a farmer association in Nicaragua with over 1,100 members who produce and process vegetables, grow and export coffee, and provide loans to small producers. Created by 22 small farmers in 1992, the association has grown to assist over 9,000 families, most of whom belong to the Chorotega Indigenous Community.