PRODECOOP. Yet another acronym that I could barely figure out the meaning of. Yet behind the letters there’s another well-established, well-run Fair Trade co-op that has done a lot to help the local communities in the area around northwestern Nicaragua. Located in Esteli, it is a large co-operative that was established almost 20 years ago.
I knew about PRODECOOP well before my visit. The lady who runs it, Merling Preza, is also President of CLAC, a pan-American Fair Trade organisation (see my post about Cafe Honor, in Honduras to find out a little more about CLAC). I hoped I’d meet Merling for her invaluable knowledge and expertise in Fair Trade. Unfortunately, being President of a co-operative, of CLAC and Cafenica (a collection of several Nicarguan co-operatives) means she is a busy person, and my luck was out. I did get to talk to Mayarling, a young lady who has been with PRODECOOP for six years and works to promote PRODECOOP coffee internationally. She introduced me to many staff at the office, where I got a quick “buenos dias” before rushing on to the next person. It all looked very professional, and in the typical Latin American way, when 12:00pm came around, it was like a buzzer had gone off, the way everyone stopped for lunch.
PRODECOOP has 2,300 members, a number that has remained steady for several years. It is a 100% Fair Trade co-op, with 50% certified organic and 25% of its membership are women. Mayarling says it is difficult to get everybody to meet organic standards. They export virtually all of their coffee, mostly to US and Europe, although in the last few years they have begun exports to Venezuela. They also produce coffee for the Nicaraguan market, though the coffee is typically a lower standard than that which is exported. Their beneficio (processing area) is located north of the town. 50 employees work in the Esteli office and 12 at the beneficio.
PRODECOOP is a member of Cafenica, a group of 10 Nicaraguan co-operatives that together comprise more than 6,300 small producer members. By joining together, Cafenica is able to do more to help its members than the co-operatives could do separately. The two other co-ops I visited in Nicaragua, Miraflor and SOPPEXCCA, are also members of Cafenica.
The profile of PRODECOOP is quite high in Fair Trade circles, and I asked Mayarling how the co-operative has developed and its success with Fair Trade. It’s a combination of many things. They have good quality coffee – it does well in the national Cup of Excellence competitions. They have high production standards. Other projects are underway, such as the honey pilot project. 55 producers are involved and the project will try to make honey for export. Producers still grow other crops for themselves or to sell at local markets, such as maize, beans and citrus fruit.
The co-op has had a good harvest this year. Although climate change is a noticeable problem, particularly for producers’ own food they grow, there hasn’t been any unusual, devastating weather patterns this year. But when production is adversely affected, the co-op helps ensure producers can buy basic foods at good prices, rather than for higher, ‘black market’ prices.
One particular success that I saw, which comes from Fair Trade (the “social premium”), is being able to provide school backpacks for children. Last year over 3,000 were provided for all school levels. Mayarling gave me an exercise book that the co-op provided for children too. A new building was built at the beneficio with the Fair Trade social premium and assistance from the European HIVOS charity. Medical help, a health centre and technical assistance for farmers are also provided by the co-op. The co-op has good relationships with its buyers, together with long contracts. This is important for stability for the co-op.
One interesting comment Mayarling made was how Fair Trade has changed the way families managed the harvest. Before Fair Trade, children would help during harvest time. But the Fair Trade standard is no child labour (children under 15). So the families work more closely together now to ensure the coffee is picked in good time and that helps them avoid the expense of hiring labourers.
My brief time in Esteli also included a quick visit to Miraflor. Again, it was just an office location but I managed to talk to Marlon, who gave me a little overview of what Miraflor is all about.
Miraflor is a lot smaller than PRODECOOP, with around 600 members. It is a group of 11 co-operatives that cultivate organic coffee, but not just that. A large focus of Miraflor is in eco-tourism with plenty of opportunities for volunteers (most typically from developed countries). They also grow vegetables and a pilot project is underway to export potatoes to Venezuela.
Marlon, who looks young but seemed a little over-worked when I met him, often getting interrupted on his phone, has worked for Miraflor for 12 years and coordinates coffee production and eco-tourism. He was happily persistent in trying to convince me to visit their eco-tourist finca. He explained how important a successful eco-tourism project is to the co-op members. I did notice parallels in Nicaragua with Guatemala, in that many NGOs have interests here. Although I saw only glimpses of the most rural areas, many Nicaraguans have struggled through poverty over many years. External aid has brought many different projects and eco-tourism and volunteer opportunities are popular.
Typically a volunteer will spend 2 months situated in the countryside with the producers, living on or near one of the fincas, or with a family. They undertake work to help preserve nature and the environment. Over the years, deforestation (among other things) has had severe effects in many areas. By involving local people in these initiatives knowledge is shared and it helps to put the communities in a better position to help themselves.
When I asked Marlon about Fair Trade, he was a strong advocate for it. He has seen the evidence of it working and its value to the co-op communities. As well as helping the producer families themselves it also helps the environment. He did stress the need for Fair Trade to be well organised within the communities, particularly when the initiatives are starting. I had to agree with him – the most successful Fair Trade examples I have seen tend to have a strong commitment from the communities.
Benefits from Fair Trade that the co-op receive are spread throughout their communities, so everybody can benefit, not just co-op members, for example with health and education.
Coming away from Esteli having visited PRODECOOP and Miraflor I felt only partially satisfied with my visits. Talking to someone in an office was good, but I would have learned more from spending time with other producers in the countryside. I’m always grateful for the time I do get with people, but it can be hard to get a real feel for a co-operative when it’s a short meeting in an office.
A Fair Trade Bike Ride 