Your Name Monisha Ashok
Interviewee’s Name Santiago Paz Lopez
Title Deputy Manager of Cepicafe
Organization Cepicafe
Introduction
Santiago Paz Lopez is the deputy manager of Cepicafe and works directly with the general manager to oversee the day to day operations of the organization. Cepicafe is an association of small coffee producer organizations in the Piura Mountains in Peru that uses a market intermediary model to promote fair trade and secures higher prices for coffee producers by establishing direct links to local and international markets.
Question #1
Can you tell me more about how Cepicafe has transitioned from being a nonprofit to being a for-profit business that is financially sustainable?
Cepicafe began in 1995 as a small organization and has now grown to include more than 90 organizations and over 6,600 coffee farmers. My job of managing the organizations is getting harder and harder. The farmers do not need to use middle men to take their coffee to markets in larger cities like Lima or Cusco, and can directly take thier coffee to local or even international markets with Cepicafe. They are now getting a higher price for their coffee and are able to provide for thier families, so they are willing to pay a small price for Cepicafe’s services that help them reach these local and international markets. It is my job to ensure that all of the organizations are growing rich Peruvian coffee, better than Colombian coffee, and that they have access to markets and can get higher prices. For money, Cepicafe also gets help from the partner organization, PEDICAFE. We have also recently started a company called ECOCAFE that generates profits.
Question #2
Now that you have told me more about how Cepicafe is becoming financially sustainable, can you tell me more about social sustainability? What is the social impact that Cepicafe makes on the Piura Mountains in Peru?
“Farmers do not need to use middle men to sell their products on local or international markets and therefore, get higher incomes. They still do not get a large poriton of the retail price that coffee is sold at in the United States or Europe, but they are still able to get a higher poriton of the retail price. With this higher income, they are able to provide for thier families, send thier children to school, and have better healthcare, or even buy more equipment for thier farms. But these farmers live in rural areas in the Piura mountains and there are not that many schools or health care clinics so Cepicafe has helped build them. Recently, we helped with a project to improve cooking stoves.
Cepicafe also helps provide education for the farmers and trains them in organic farming practices. We partner with PEDICAFE to provide training for the farmers in these organic farming practice. For example, our farmers use drip irrigation to conserve water sometimes and also do not use too many chemical products. These environmental and ecological practices helps us to get fair trade certification and reach specialized markets. Most farmers also teach the rest of thier family members on these organic farming practices so that they can continue these practices and earn higher incomes for generations. “
Question #3
How do you expect Cepicafe to grow in the future?
Cepicafe has grown a lot over past ten years. First, Cepicafe was only focusing on coffee producers and coffee products but now Cepicafe has already expanded and is now not only focusing on coffee, but also cocoa, a special sugarcane called panela granulated, and jams. We get certification that our farmers used organic production methods and then export the products to specialty markets in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. We want to continue to expand our products and start selling the products in more countries, like the United States and in California. We want to expand our jam products. In 2006, we started making fruit jams and exported 2 crates and then increased to 7 crates. Nowe we are exporting 12 crates, one crate per month, but want to export more fruit jams. Cepicafe is trying to diversity its products and reach more speciality markets in Europe and United States. We want to continue producing good coffee and earning high prices on the market and increasing the capabilities of our farmers. Ultimately, we care about improvind the livlihoods of the farmers. We are also discussing the idea of starting an alternative tourism business through the coffee farms in the Piura Mountains.
Question #4
Can you talk more about the rural and urban divide in Peru?
Peru is mostly urban now with rapidly growing cities. Although Lima is the capital and the largest city, there are still many other cities like Cusco, Ariquipa, or Iquitos and that are growing. Many people are moving from the rural areas to the urban areas because there are better opportunities for industrial jobs and the government provides more services. People who still live in the rural areas only have agricultural jobs. Cepicafe is trying to help farmers get higher incomes so they have less of an incentive to move to urban areas.
Question #5
Many people in Peru only speak Qechua and cannot speak Spanish, especially the lower income rural populations. What can be done to overcome this cultural and language divide?
Peru has a large indigenous population that speaks Qechua, an ancient Incan language, and Peru recognizes it as an official language. However most people who speak Qechua have also learned how to speak Spanish, but there are still some people who only speak Qechua. The indigenous people who speak Qechua also tend to have lower incomes and are not educated and tend to live in rural areas. The Peruvian government has focused its services on Spanish speaking people who tend to live in the urban areas and has to provided as many services to the Quecha speaking people who live in more urban areas. Cepicafe operates mostly in Spanish but there are many people who can speak Qechua and can translate when necessary. Cepicafe does have many organizations, especially in the Chiclayo region, with Qeuchua speakers. We need to change some of our trainings if there are more Qeucha speakers than Spanish speakers.
Your Summary (150 words max)
Cepicafe has successfully used the fair trade model to eliminate the middle men and allows its coffee producers to gain access to local and international markets. This allows the farmers to get higher incomes, which gives them access to better healthcare and education. Cepicafe is becoming more financially stable because it is a growing organization that gets revenue from member dues that the farmers are willing to pay. It has also started a company that sells coffee products that generates revenue. I learned that Cepicafe is actually expanding its services and diversifying its products from just coffee to cocoa, sugarcane, and jams in order to reach more markets. Their ultimate goal is to make a social impact and improve the livelihoods of the farmers they work with and operate more like a nonprofit than a for-profit business.
