It is now engaged large and small farms and cooperatives involving smallholders, on a total area of about 23.500 hectares throughout Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Brazil. Thus, a wide range of socio-economical, geographical and environmental conditions apply.
Thanks to a cooperative effort spearheaded by the global financial services company, Citigroup, and in cooperation with ARAMARK, a worldwide managed services provider; Java City, the specialty coffee supplier; and the Rainforest Alliance, Citigroup is now offering coffee that's good for the environment, farm workers, and communities at 15 of its employee centers.
Rainforest Alliance supportes coffee growers in Latin America who meet the Rainforest Alliance's gold standard for responsible coffee farming.
Rainforest Alliance certification standards guarantee that workers are treated fairly and have access to education and health care, that soil and water quality are not compromised, that waste is managed efficiently, that chemical use is reduced dramatically and that relations with surrounding communities is mutually supportive.
Around the world, the overproduction of coffee has resulted in low market prices, forcing thousands of growers to abandon their farms. Many farmers who remain in business are clear-cutting forests and using chemical-intensive methods to produce their beans, rather than the environmentally sensitive methods advocated by the Rainforest Alliance. On Rainforest Alliance-certified operations, farmers are demonstrating that sound production practices can guarantee a supply of high quality coffee grown in harmony with nature.
| About the Rainforest Alliance |
The mission of the Rainforest Alliance is to protect endangered ecosystems and the people and wildlife that live within them by transforming land-use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior.
Sustainable coffee farming is at the center of its efforts to save rainforests, wildlife and to promote cohesive and progressive communities. |
By aiming to certify farms and cooperatives with the "sustainable agriculture" scheme of Rainforest Alliance, the project automatically deals with the three pillars of sustainability in the meantime (economic, social and environmental).
Main activities of the programme include the development of a guide for farm improvement, creation of an incentive for change as well as monitoring and verification of progress towards the sustainable production and post-harvesting of green coffee.
Key stakeholders are farmers, who are committed to implement best management practices and thus reduce environmental impacts, increase social benefits and improvement their incomes and overall living conditions.
Rainforest Alliance is responsible for certification, auditing and promotion of sustainable mainstream coffee.
