Show the way to up ‘living income’ of coffee farmers, say experts

The coffee industry should collectively step up its fight for stable pricing to ensure a decent living income for growers rather than pushing the case in isolation, said Stephanie Daniels, senior programme director, Agriculture & Development, Sustainable Food Lab (U.S.).

The coffee industry should collectively step up its fight for stable pricing to ensure a decent living income for growers rather than pushing the case in isolation, said Stephanie Daniels, senior programme director, Agriculture & Development, Sustainable Food Lab (U.S.).

Speaking at the 5th World Coffee Conference on Wednesday, she argued that living income was absolutely the core of sustainability and it was extremely critical for millions of coffee farmers who deserve to thrive and not just survive.

“The concept of living income is beyond poverty alleviation. It is about living decently and in comfort. Living income comprises a decent nutritional diet as per the norms of WHO, housing other essential elements such as healthcare, education and transport,’‘ she explained while deliberating on a topic “Coffee incomes of farmers in Africa and India and Latin America.”

According to Ms. Daniels, there are a lot of strategic dialogues currently happening across Latin America, Africa, and Asian countries to improve the financial outcomes of the coffee sector through innovation, increased focus on R&D and newer mechanisms of growth.

“We need the industry to step up and work towards stable pricing. This issue can not be solved at the national level and it requires global collaboration,’‘ she emphasised.

Nishanth Gupta, Strategic Liaison Walmart Foundation in India, noted that farmer producing organisations (FPO) and farmers’/cooperatives have been working in India to improve sustainability in the coffee industry and all these efforts have been yielding good results.

World’s largest coffee roaster Nestle has been working among coffee farmers in Karnataka in the last 10 years. Sanjay Khajuria, Director Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Nestle India, said the programme has already touched the lives of some 10 million people, especially when India has 230,000 coffee farmers of which 98% of them were small farmers mostly from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.