Fairtrade - Haiti
Federation of Native Coffee Associations FACN
In 1950 Haiti was producing 600,000 bags of coffee annually, these days total production is only 250,000 bags. The coffee industry has not been immune to the crisis which has afflicted the country for several decades.
In the face of this crisis, a large federation of cooperatives was created in order to revitalise the sector and to export quality coffee. The Federation of Native Coffee Associations (FACN) is a cooperative with 41 member cooperatives. Coffee is grown at an altitude of between 800 and 1500m.
Haiti does not have coffee plantations in the strict sense of the word ; they are more like coffee ‘gardens’ in which other food crops are grown too. Thus, the average size of plot cultivated by more than 80% of the island’s coffee producers is ¼ to 1 ‘tile’ and a tile is 1.29 hectares.
Two types of coffee are currently marketed by the FACN: Haitian Bleu®, a gourmet coffee, slightly acidic and delicately tangy, which is now numbered amongst the ten most expensive coffees in the world. The Haitian Fair Trade coffee is gently sweet, with hints of cereals and dried fruits.
In Brief:
- Number of producers: 25, 000
- Established in 1994
- Received FLO certification in 2001
- Total volume of production (in 2007): 114 tonnes
- Percentage of crop sold through Fair Trade (in 2007): 100%
- Total amount of development premium (in 2007): $25,100
- Harvest: September to February
Coffee plantations - of considerable ecological importance
After decades of intensive deforestation, less than 2% of the country’s original tree cover remains today. The country’s main forested areas are also those where coffee is grown. Indeed, to grow properly, the low-growing coffee tree actually needs the shade provided by tall trees such as pine, mahogany and fruit trees. For this reason, biodiversity is strongly associated with coffee-growing areas.
By encouraging farmers to organize themselves, Fairtrade has strengthened and consolidated the existing institutional framework. The social premium received under the Fair Trade scheme has allowed the development of many social projects such as the creation of bus routes, a dispensary, an agricultural bank and the development of a small roasting plant so that roasted coffee can be sold to the domestic market. In addition the premium has enabled the purchase of new machines for the final treatment plant and construction of new drying areas in order to further improve quality.
