Sustainability is now in its second decade as a buzzword. Like many, I am still trying to understand exactly what it means. Surely, its definition varies depending on who you are, where you are, and what you do, as you add or take away from the mix of social, economic, and environmental ingredients of the sustainability recipe. With the framework and methodology we developed here at Sustainable Harvest, we prepared reports on our carbon footprint, our sustainability performance, and our suppliers’ sustainability.

To share our efforts to quantify our contribution to sustainable development, we’re writing a series of three blog posts to describe the scope of the process, the challenges, and the results as they unfold. This post discusses the trend of sustainability assessment as a tool to quantify qualitative descriptions of impact and enhance decision-making. The second post will focus on sustainability assessments conducted by independent, third-party organizations that evaluate our internal operations, most notably B Lab and Genuine Metrics. The last post of the series will address global sustainability initiatives and standards, and Sustainable Harvest’s pilot assessment of supplier sustainability. It will also address the challenges around that process and some of our initial findings on supplier well-being and needs.

Since emerging at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and gaining speed in both the Global North and South by the early 2000s, the concept of sustainable development has become mainstream. The trend of sustainability assessment and metrics emerged in the early 2000s as policymakers, managers and investors, civil society leaders, and the public began to demand evidence to support “green” claims. In response, consulting firms and experts such as the International Association for Impact Assessment organized and developed measurement tools. These tools help to analyze efficiency, effectiveness, and impact; demonstrate the extent of progress to management and key stakeholders; inform learning and strategic decision-making; compare actual results with those expected; ensure accountability; and ultimately, establish a strong foundation to bring sustainability efforts to scale.

Last month, we released a carbon footprint report that quantifies our business’ total carbon emissions. We see climate change as an increasing threat to the coffee supply chain, and it directly affects the farmers Sustainable Harvest works with in developing countries. Our sustainability team’s analysis shows 2009 CO2 emissions from the shipment of coffee in our legal possession (via ocean freight and trucking), as well as from staff air travel and from energy usage at all of our global offices (US, Mexico, Peru, and Tanzania). Our calculations show that carbon emissions from these activities totaled 657 metric tons (t) during 2009. In the process of transporting green coffee some 240,700 miles, 577t CO2e were emitted. In terms of operations, staff air travel resulted in estimated emissions of 78t CO2 and all office energy consumption emitted a total of 7t CO2. While approximately of 85% of our direct emissions are a result of shipping green coffee, it is important to note that coffee shipments transported by sea from origin to the US market contribute a relatively small portion (only 3 percent) of coffee’s total carbon footprint, on average (Clay, in Kornell 2009).

The carbon footprint report also analyzes the carbon sequestration from the Kigoma tree planting project in Tanzania. This initiative plants native tree species on denuded coffee plantations and was designed to restore local biodiversity, provide shade for coffee plants, reduce runoff, and sequester carbon. From 2008-2010, the project has planted 131,800 trees that will sequester an average of 805t CO2 each year.4 We estimate that this project sequesters 20% more carbon than we emit through business activities. The Kigoma project is one example of the ways in which Sustainable Harvest and coffee roasters support sustainability projects to improve conditions in the communities and ecosystems where their coffee is sourced.

Measuring our carbon footprint report is the first step in sustainability assessment and metrics that reinforce our work and the impact of our trade model. Another significant step is third-party certification and analysis, like B Lab and Genuine Metrics, the topic of our next blog post.

- David Short

In April of this year, Carly, Thangale, and Boss traveled to coffee cooperatives in Burundi to meet with the washing station managers and cooperative leaders. They discussed quality control systems, washing station management, traceability, and sustainable practices such as composting. After that visit, the Burundians promised to visit the Kanyovu Cooperative in Tanzania to see first-hand the systems in place that have contributed to the co-op’s success. Below, see some photos of this promise finally realized, a great example of peer-to-peer exchange.

- The Sustainable Harvest team in Kigoma, Tanzania

The delegation of coffee cooperative members from Burundi (pictured here with Thangale) arrived in Kigoma, Tanzania this week to visit the Kanyovu Coffee Cooperative and see first-hand the farming practices and quality improvement systems they have been learning about.

The training involved a hands-on look at the Penagos machines, Colombian de-pulpers that Sustainable Harvest brought to Kanyovu. Penagos machines use just one-tenth of the water that is used with regular de-pulping machines, making them great resources for coffee cooperatives in Africa.

The Burundian representatives took notes and photos during their many farm tours in Kigoma, recording what they learned about coffee agronomy and sustainable agriculture to bring back to their peers in Burundi.

El año pasado iniciamos el programa de capacitación en control de calidad, que a la fecha viene capacitando a más de 150 catadores peruanos de 25 organizaciones de productores. Estas capacitaciones han sido muy intensas y ahora en su segundo año podemos ver los resultados no solo en la cantidad de catadores que hemos formado, sino también y más importante, en la cantidad de productores que se han capacitado a través de las dos promociones de catadores que hemos formado en nuestro centro de excelencia, una suerte de “Peer-to-Peer” entre productores.

El equipo de control de calidad de Chirinos inicio un programa para capacitar a los productores en la catacion.

Una de las experiencias más ricas que tenemos es la del equipo de Chirinos, conformado por Eber, Miguel e Isela, jóvenes productores y catadores responsables del área de control de calidad, quienes a través de su líder Eber, comenzaron a realizar capacitaciones en cada base, aplicando la metodología desarrollada por Oscar en el Centro de Excelencia, y que ellos rebautizaron con el nombre “APRENDE HACIENDO”, donde se trabaja el desarrollo de los sentidos a través de la experimientación con olores y sabores, probando frutas y especies de la zona, asi como diferentes calidades de cafés. Estos ejercicios, fueron de gran aceptación por los productores, llegando a tener un índice de asistencia del 80%.

En un inicio, comenta Eber, ellos no creían en la catación, ni entendían su importancia, pero hoy día esta experiencia los ha ayudado y motivado a tal extremo que no solo están siendo más cuidadosos en la cosecha y procesos, sino algo más increible, están haciendo investigaciones para determinar cual es la mejor forma y el tiempo más óptimo para la fermentación, haciendo diferentes ejercicios, llegando con sus muestras al laboratorio para que este grupo de jovenes catadores, liderados por Eber, evalue las muestras y sus diferentes procesos, para luego indicar cual fue el proceso que intensificó más favorablemente los atributos de la taza. Este trabajo ha requerido mucha dedicación, pero gracias a estos ejercicios, se ha podido observar que los cafés de las primeras cosechas ya no tienen el frescor y sabores de mani tan marcados que se veía el año pasado.

Talleres en finca ayudan a los productores entender cuales procesos de post-cosecha contribuyen a una mejor calidad

Otro gran beneficio que Chirinos ha visto en este proceso de capacitación es la disminución de rechazos de lotes en el centro de acopio, lo que ha originado colectar mayor café de los socios, con puntajes muy interesantes desde el inicio de la cosecha. La capacitación que estos jóvenes han trasmitido a los 370 productores, ha sido una de las más exitosas y de resultados muy rápidos. Ahora los productores llegan a la cooperativa preguntando como salio el resultado de su café en físico y en taza. El grado de participación ha sido increiblemente del 80%, y todos ellos tienen como objetivo lograr el tan ansiado 85 puntos.

Este es solo un ejemplo, de como las capacitaciones trascienden los umbrales de los centros de capacitación, transmitiendo este conocimiento y enseñanza de boca en boca hasta llegar al mismo productor.

- Claudia Aleman, Coordinadora de Relacion Directa, Peru

The Chirinos quality control team started a program to educate co-op members about coffee cupping.

One of the richest experiences we have had is with the Chirinos cooperative cupping team, including Eber, Miguel and Isela (all of them trained at the Center of Excellence).  These young producers and cuppers are responsible for Chirinos’ coffee quality control, which, led by Eber, started a program  to educate and train members of their cooperative in applying the cupping methodology developed by Oscar in the Center of Excellence. They renamed the methodology “learn by doing” because it is experiential, allowing the producers to use their sensory skills to taste and smell the different aromas and flavors of the fruits and spices of the region, as well as having them drink coffees of differing qualities. These exercises have been widely accepted by producers, with an attendance rate of 80% at the training sessions.

In the beginning, Eber says, the producers were reluctant to believe in cupping and its importance for producing high quality coffee, but this experience has helped and motivated them not only to be more careful when harvesting and processing, but–even more incredible– it has encouraged them to do research to determine the best material and optimal fermentation time for their coffee. The Chirinos producers have done different experiments, arriving to the cupping lab with samples and requesting that these young cuppers evaluate the samples and indicate which is the process that best intensifies the attributes of the cup. This work has required a lot of dedication, but thanks to these experiments, we’ve seen an improvement in the quality of the coffees that have arrived since the beginning of the harvest, reducing the green taste and peanut flavor founded in last year’s crop.

On-the-farm cupping training has helped producers tweak processing to create a higher quality cup.

Another great benefit that the Chirinos cooperative has experienced as a result of this training program is a decrease in rejections of the lots of coffee that producers deliver to the collection warehouse. The cooperative has been able to collect more coffee from their members, with exciting scores from the beginning of the harvest. The training that these young people have provided to 370 producers has been one of their most successful workshops, with positive and tangible results. Producers now go to their cooperative asking about the cupping evaluation of their coffees, and they are working very hard to get closer to achieving the expected 85 points.

This is just one example of how all Sustainable Harvest’s training efforts are extending  beyond the classroom or laboratory and impacting producers directly.

- Claudia Aleman, Relationship Coffee Manager, Peru

It was the fourth day of Food Security Solutions, a farmer training event organized by Sustainable Harvest in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and I had come to this forest to visit beehives as part of the beekeeping workshop. From where I stood on the path, I could make out my fellow workshop participants in a clearing up ahead, listening intently to the trainers talk about hive maintenance and honeycomb harvesting. Minutes earlier, some bees had swarmed around me, and the singular layer of denim I had worn did not protect me from stings. I had retreated into the woods for a few minutes of respite.

Despite the constant hum and all-too-often prick coming from the bees that had followed me into the woods, I was not thinking about bees or pain. I was thinking about mushrooms. My seemingly incongruous train of thought stemmed from a simple question posed on the first day of the event, one that has stuck with me ever since:

What is the best way to utilize the resources we have at our fingertips?

One workshop at Food Security Solutions taught participants how to grow edible, protein-rich mushrooms using materials already available on their farms.

Recognizing the value of the resources around us was a pervasive theme at Food Security Solutions, the four-day event which gathered together representatives from coffee cooperatives, NGOs, finance institutions, and development organizations together to learn innovative ways to tackle food insecurity in coffee communities. How can coffee growers with few resources see new potential in what they already have on their farms? How can they use those resources in different or better ways to reduce their families’ hunger? A final cup of brewed coffee represents a small percent of the tree that farmers work so hard to nurture — what are other ways to use the rest of the plant?

Throughout the event, I noticed participants and trainers answering these questions. I saw plump, delicious oyster mushrooms grown out of coffee pulp, a harvest byproduct which normally piles up unused on farms. I saw everything from riverbed rocks to molasses to leftover eggshells from the morning’s breakfast thrown into the mix during a lesson on the production of organic fertilizers; the idea being that effective fertilizer can be made using many resources already available on the farm. I saw bees carefully tended to, producing honey for consumption and sale.

These sights are why, in the midst of a harrowing swarm of bees on a forest path, I was peering at a decaying log, studying the clump of mushrooms growing out of it. I widened my gaze and pondered how the leaves and moss scattered around me could be harnessed in a healthy, sustainable way to improve the livelihoods of the people living in the area.

Today I am far from that forest path in Nicaragua; my bee stings are healed. The Food Security Solutions participants have all returned to their homes throughout Central America, bringing with them new skills to teach and projects to implement. And while I don’t live on a farm, I find that the idea of utilizing resources to their fullest potential often applies in a much broader context. To me, Sustainable Harvest’s relationships with coffee cooperatives, finance institutions, development foundations, and NGOs are resources at our fingertips. Bringing these heads together to share ideas and tackle the critical issue of food insecurity in coffee communities is our best idea for a new and effective way to utilize this network.

- Wynne McAuley, Finance and Communications Assistant, Portland

Recently, she took advantage of time during an internet outage in the Kigoma office to put together the following update for us on the latest news from the Kanyovu cooperative as the harvest begins.

Stay tuned for more updates from Carly and our other fellows as they experience life abroad with Sustainable Harvest.

In the past month, Clemente experienced several firsts, including an airplane flight and a visit to the U.S., where he attended the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) annual conference in Anaheim, California and visited Sustainable Harvest’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

Clemente came to the U.S. with three fellow Peruvian co-op leaders – Dario Roman from the APESI cooperative, Cesar Montalvam of CAPEMA, and Alvaro Prada from ADISA, as part of an exchange visit organized by Sustainable Harvest and funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

Four coffee producers from Peru joined Sustainable Harvest at the SCAA's annual conference this April to learn about coffee in a consumer country. From left to right: Alvaro Prada, Dario Roman, Katie Gilmer, Clemente Oblitas, Chabela Cerqueda, Cesar Montalvam, Olga Cuellar.

During the visit to the SCAA annual conference, the farmers had the opportunity to meet with several of their business partners from other countries, as well as with NGOs and institutions that work to improve coffee producers’ lives, and learned about coffee marketing and retailing in the U.S. marketplace.

After the SCAA conference, the four Peruvians traveled to Portland to see firsthand the roasting and retail segments of the coffee supply chain. Most small-holder producers only hear bits and pieces about how coffee is consumed in countries like the United States, and there were many things that surprised the farmers. None of them were prepared for the sheer number of coffee drinkers they encountered on the street with to-go cups and in coffee shops and bars.

“When I got up this morning,” Dario from APESI commented one day in Portland, “and looked at the hotel window, I saw three people walking past carrying cups from local coffee shops. That seemed like a lot to me, but when I came to the Sustainable Harvest office and told this story, people laughed and said, ‘What, only three people? Where was everyone else?’”

At the end of the trip, Clemente, el lechero, said that he felt luckier than ever to have had the chance to visit the United States for the SCAA show and to see first hand the coffee industry in Portland. Bringing this information back to his cooperative, he can better lead the other farmers in negotiating the specialty market and producing top quality coffee.

- Olga Cuellar, Development Manager, Lima, Peru

The many members of the coffee supply chain have a lot that they can learn from one another. A Colombian producer who makes his own fertilizer can be a great resource for a Nicaraguan cooperative looking to make some fertilizer of its own. A water-saving technique used at a Tanzanian washing station can be valuable for a Burundian washing station as well.

At Sustainable Harvest, we promote the efficiency and quality improvement that come from peer-to-peer information exchange among coffee producers across the world. Often, though, those that stand to learn the most from one other live very far apart, and the opportunities for them to collaborate face-to-face are few and far between. This is why our staff at origin make a point of facilitating peer exchanges among producers in our supply chain,  using the technology that we have available in our origin offices.

Diracsema and Israel of the 21st of September cooperative, used Skype to share information on women's coffee lots with interested producers from the Aprocassi cooperative in Peru.

Clemente recently sent us a snapshot of such an exchange happening at our office in Oaxaca, Mexico: Diracsema Jose, the President, and Israel Paz,  staff at the 21^st of September cooperative in Oaxaca, having a Skype conversation with members of the Aprocassi Cooperative in Cajamarca, Peru.

Two years ago, the 21^st of September began separating and tracking the coffee grown by its women members. The co-op sold these  ‘women’s lots’ as a specialty item for consumers who wanted to support the economic development of women in origin countries. When Clemente learned that Aprocassi was interested in doing a similar project, he arranged for them to have a conference call with the 21^st of September. Over Skype, Diracsema imparted her experience tracking, cupping, and separating women’s lots for special sale with a producer from Aprocassi, providing him with an understanding of how he could implement the project in his own community.

To learn more about how our offices situated at origin facilitate peer-to-peer interactions and support the production of quality coffee, check out our new video.

Thangale teaches Burundian farmers about best practices for drying coffee parchment.

As we left the city of Bujumbura in Burundi in the late afternoon and wound up into the highlands on our way to Ngozi, where we would spend the next 3 days completing a washing station managers training, I was struck by how much everything felt like Christmas. Perhaps it was the obvious drop in temperature which left me feeling chilled for the first time since I left England almost a year ago. Or maybe it was the change in vegetation such that trees not dissimilar to the infamous Christmas Fir scattered the skyline. Or perhaps it was even the little symmetrical houses that lined the roads with their perfectly placed doors between two windows under sloping roofs that resembled those sitting on snow-covered hilltops, covered in glitter on many a traditional Christmas card. Or even the smell of dew-covered trees and smoke coming from open fires. Whatever the reason, I was excited to be in such a beautiful country after a long days drive from Kigoma!

After arriving in Ngozi, we checked into our hotel and enjoyed dinner with our hosts from Michigan State University and DAI who work on the Burundi Agriculture Project before heading to bed. On Wednesday morning we headed to the training center to meet various washing station managers, cooperative representatives and university students we had been invited to train. While I kept myself busy snapping photos and taking notes, Sustainable Harvest agronomist Thangale started the day with a great overview about Sustainable Harvest and the success of our partner, Kanyovu cooperative in Kigoma. Having definitely impressed the audience, he continued with an explanation of the managerial organization and structure of Kanyovu and the daily activities at washing stations, which were then compared to the practices in Ngozi. A great deal of knowledge,  experience, challenges, and means of overcoming them was shared. After lunch, Boss presented all the different ways high-quality coffee can be achieved, covering everything from good farm practices and harvesting, right through to storage and export — from the plant to the cup. Again he received lots of questions about practices and successes in Kigoma, and it was obvious the participants learned a lot of new information.

Drying tables at the washing station in the Gasura - Kirundo region of Burundi

Day two commenced with a field trip to a washing station in the Gasura – Kirundo region, about half an hour from the Rwandan border. The harvest has already started there, so we got to see everything in action from fermentation to washing and finally drying. Thangale did a very interactive, practical training on how to correctly detect any defected or diseased beans that made it to the washing stage, and he emphasized the importance of eliminating such beans before the drying stage. This session was followed by a hands-on training in composting using coffee pulp.

We then headed back to the center to round out the day with a presentation on quality control systems. Again there were lots of questions about practices in Kigoma – how are sample collected, where are they cupped, by whom? etc. When we revealed the quality of Kanyovu coffee and the prices farmers earned last year, there was an air of amazement among the audience, mixed with feelings of excitement when Boss told the participants that if they follow the advice given to increase the quality of their coffee they could be in the same position in the not so distant future.

Thangale and Boss, Sustainable Harvest agronomists, teach Burundian farmers how to create organic compost fertilizers using coffee pulp

On the last morning we completed our training starting with (if I dare say) an excellent presentation by Thangale on marketing, promotions and relationships with buyers, followed by a talk on finances and (by popular demand) traceability practices in Kigoma. Before heading back to Bujumbura, we took a group photo and conducted an assessment of the training, which communicated 100% positive feedback.

Overall, our three days were full of presentations, practical training, questions, note scribbling, photos, discussions, smiles and giggles from both the Burundians and the Tanzanian staff from Sustainable Harvest. From a personal perspective, I feel very lucky to have been involved in this trip. I’ve learned a lot myself, and it was great to finally see a working washing station and visualize a lot of what has previously been just terminology to me – fermentation tanks, de-pulping, defected beans and pyramid drying, to give but a few examples. And all this with the beautiful  Burundian hills as a backdrop.

- Carly Griggs, Origin Fellow in Kigoma, Tanzania