From poverty to coffee pot
THE next person to complain that Northampton's Greyfriars Bus Station is an eyesore should spare a thought for the people of Nicaragua.
The extreme poverty of this South American country means that some villages have no health service, forcing residents to travel in emergency situations – often by bus – to the nearest city. The only problem is that the nearest bus stop can be up to a three-kilometre walk away and some people die en route.
Nicaraguan coffee farmer Marlon Villarreyna, who is currently on a three-month visit to Northampton to promote Fairtrade, gave the transport situation in his country as one example of the kind of poverty the people endure on a daily basis.
Being able to produce goods such as coffee for Fairtrade buyers is one way villagers can make a little extra money for themselves to fight poverty and gain some stability of income.
This weekend marks the end of Fairtrade fortnight, during which campaigners have been appealing to consumers to remember the link between what goes into their shopping baskets and the cash that goes into the pocket of the food producer.
When a product has a Fairtrade mark it means that growers in countries such as Africa, Latin America and Asia, can charge prices which cover their production costs as well as the price of some investment into their communities.
The importance of Fairtrade is seen as stopping major corporations pocketing huge profits while poor producers are left even poorer by being forced to produce their goods for exploitatively low prices.
Mr Villarreyna, who hails from Sontule in northern Nicaragua, said: "I'm a farmer and during the week I help my family in the countryside and at the weekend I go to university.
"We work with a firm which sells the coffee on and they sell the coffee in America and Europe."
The 31-year-old, whose plantation is part of a co-operative of local farmers, is fortunate as through this company he is able to sell his coffee to Fairtrade buyers.
Every 100lb of his coffee would fetch $100 when sold on the general market but through Fairtrade he is given an extra $15 on top of this.
A portion of what those producers in the co-operative earn goes into a single pot which can then be used to benefit local projects.
To sell his coffee, the Villarreyna family have to fulfil more requirements than most as not only is the coffee Fairtrade, but it is also organic. The family take pride in an environmental awareness which means no artificial pesticides are used on the land.
Mr Villareyna said: "Where we live is an environmental reserve so we have done training in environmental awareness and from that awareness we had the idea of doing organic farming."
The father-of-two's visit, which is his first to the UK, was organised to coincide with Fairtrade fortnight.
The trip was arranged through the Northampton-based Miraflor Foundation which was originally set up in 2004 by two volunteer English teachers, Jane Boyd and Hilary Francis, to raise money to revamp the local primary school in Sontule.
During his trip, Mr Villareyna has been travelling to schools around the county to talk about his own life in Nicaragua and the benefits of buying Fairtrade. He also dropped in at the Fairtrade Northampton stall in the Grosvenor Centre last weekend to promote awareness of Fairtrade among shoppers.
He said: "For me personally, what I want to do is make people more aware of all the steps food and drink goes through before being sold, from growing the plant to having a cup of coffee.
"I also want to make people aware that in producing Fairtrade coffee it is not just about money, it is about the environment and being able to produce our coffee in a way that doesn't damage the environment."
Most high street names such as Marks and Spencer as well as local shops such as the Daily Bread Company in Bedford Road stock a range of Fairtrade products.
Mr Villareyna said he was surprised at the choice of Fairtrade products available in the UK.
He said: "I have also been surprised by the fact there is not really a big difference in price. In terms of the Fairtrade movement I have been surprised at how much movement and action there is."
For Northamptonshire shoppers, buying a Fairtrade product can be as simple as reaching for one product over another one on a supermarket shelf. But, according to Mr Villareyna, that choice could mean a little more money for food and drink producers in critically poor communities.
The level of poverty can mean someone may get through the day with just the sustenance of a single tortilla sprinkled with salt, or a cup of coffee.
Land ownership by everyday villagers has only come about in recent history. In Sontule one rich landowner owned the entire area but, during the revolution which happened in 1979, many of these wealthy property owners fled to America. After this, many co-operatives were set up within villages to help small producers join forces to sell their products on.
Harvest time is a real community effort and school holidays are even arranged to coincide with this time so youngsters can help pick coffee beans.
Mr Villareyna said: "If people buy Fairtrade the members of our communities will have more income and of the communities that are benefiting from Fairtrade, most don't have drinking water or electric lights and others don't have a primary school.
"They might have to travel far to get access to water. Life is just so different over there. If you do have a school, the school will lack books and there may be no health centre at all.
"If there is income from Fairtrade coffee, that income can be put towards these difficult problems that communities face."
Fairtrade displays by Fairtrade Northampton will be exhibited at Daily Bread in Northampton as well as at the Guildhall tomorrow.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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