From the Field, News
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Strengthening Communities During Covid-19
Building a sustainable supply chain includes investing in healthy farming communities. During the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve focused on community health. Thanks to a grant from the Dutch development bank, FMO, we have built upon our existing relationships and supply chains to distribute health information, personal protective equipment (PPE), food crops and sanitary facilities to farming communities in Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda & Kenya.
Since 1 August, we have trained 5,000 farmers and reached 45,000 community members. To maximize the number of people reached while ensuring the safety of the wider public, we shared knowledge on protective measures and materials through our existing lead farmer network. Lead farmers are community leaders who usually attend our agronomic training sessions and share acquired knowledge with their communities. During Covid, lead farmers are essential to sharing health information quickly and effectively while reducing travel & exposure.
Using our established supply chains, we plan to distribute 32,000 facemasks, 15,000 bars of soap and 300 buckets (for handwashing stations) by the end of the year. We will also supply 28,000 kilograms of seeds for maize and beans in time for farmers to plant them before the rainy season. Importantly, the seeds are maize and bean varieties common in the communities that received them. Farmers are familiar with cultivation methods and do not need to buy different or additional inputs.
Our existing networks and relationships are becoming even more important during the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll continue to seek innovative and scalable solutions to support coffee farming communities and to bring excellent specialty coffee to our customers.