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FAIRTRADE FINLAND – DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION PROGRAMME 2014-2017 - FINAL REPORT

FAIRTRADE FINLAND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

PROGRAMME 2014-2017FINAL REPORT


Fairtrade FinlandKuortaneenkatu 100520 Helsinki

Phone: +358 45 1275 [email protected]


ContentsSummaryAcronyms and abbreviations 1. Introduction and background 2. Programme implementation 2.1. Operating environment

2.1.1. Guatemala

2.1.2. Honduras

2.1.3. Nicaragua

2.1.4. Dominican Republic

2.2. Programme impact and results

2.2.1. More efficient and productive small producer organizations

2.2.2. Enhanced capacities of the producer network

2.2.3. Cross-cutting objectives

2.2.4. Programme development

2.3. Challenges and lessons learned

2.4. Assessment of the sustainability of the results

3. Communications 3.1. Programme communications

3.2. Development communications

3.3. Results


4. Administration and support functions

ANNEXES:

Financial statement 2017

Auditor’s report 2017

Programme audit 2017

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SUMMARY


Fairtrade Finland’s first development cooperation programme (2014-2017) launched our work in development cooperation projects in the

South. The programme was focused on the coffee sector and especially on supporting Central American small producers to overcome the coffee rust epidemic. The programme was considered a success by the beneficiaries themselves as well as the independent evaluation commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA). In addition to making a significant con-tribution to overcoming the coffee rust plague, the programme managed to improve production quality and the productivity of thousands of coffee pro-ducers. It strengthened the capacity of almost 60 producer organizations so that they would be resilient and inclusive enough to face future challenges, also successfully mainstreaming gender, youth and sustainable production in the daily operation of the organizations. The programme also supported the growth of Latin American and the Caribbean regional network of Fair-trade Producers, encouraging them to take on new responsibilities in the Fairtrade movement. Besides reaching the set results in a sustainable way, it casted a solid base for Fairtrade Finland’s development cooperation.

The goal of the programme was to build sustainable livelihoods for small-

scale producers. This was to be achieved through the development of both

small producer organizations (SPOs) and the producer network in the Latin

American region. Environmental sustainability, inclusion of vulnerable peo-

ple and gender equality were the cross-cutting objectives of the programme.

The original programme consisted of four projects, which all were implement-

ed according to schedule and budget reaching 100 per cent budget usage

in USD. Our main partner organizations included the Latin American and the

Caribbean Network of Small Fairtrade Producers (CLAC) and its national pro-

ducer networks. We had close cooperation with Fairtrade International which

offered its expertise especially on issues related to climate change, coffee and

workers’ rights.

Both the organisational and productive capacity of the producers improved

substantially. The SPOs now have strategic plans in place, and best practices

have been documented in various manuals and instructions. Governance

processes improved and capacities on human resources management were

built. The SPOs are more capable in offering services for their members, which

has increased participation, solidarity, equity, decent working conditions and

transparency in the organisations. According to the producers, they have

now overcome the devastating leaf rust disease and are well equipped to

face any further challenges.

In the three Central American coffee projects, over two million coffee seed-

lings were planted, productivity increased and quality improved. These re-

sults were effectively linked to the programme’s cross-cutting objectives. One

of the successes in all coffee projects was the establishment of demonstration

plots, mostly run by women, and used for testing resistant coffee varieties and

organizing trainings on sustainable agricultural practices. Another important

achievement was the production of organic fertilizers in the SPOs’ own centres,

mostly run by vulnerable groups like youth, indigenous people and women.

Summary

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The programme succeeded in supporting the social development in the

SPOs and the surrounding communities. The SPOs’ personnel were capaci-

tated in social inclusion and the prevention of child labour, and many SPOs

abandoned this tradition. The SPOs introduced their own development plans

for supporting social initiatives in their communities. Gender was main-

streamed in all project activities and the participation of women at all levels

increased. Women and youth started various income generating activities

and they found new opportunities in the cooperatives. Many of the changes

were transformative, as there was a shift in the mindsets of the SPOs and na-

tional producer networks; gender and youth strategies were formed, and spe-

cific actions included in the organizations’ processes and mechanisms.

In the regional project of the development of the producer network CLAC cli-

mate change, youth and gender were strongly included in all actions as well.

The project succeeded in meeting its expected results: satisfaction of members

to CLAC’s services significantly improved; a continent wide advocacy strat-

egy was drafted and put in action; political actors in various countries were

mapped to inform national advocacy strategies; employees were trained on

climate change and climate advocacy; a women’s committee was formed

to improve capacities on gender inclusion; and a youth meeting was organ-

ized, followed by a formation of a youth strategy, to train the next generation

of activists.

The original programme period was 2014-2016, but the programme was ex-

tended by one year to cover also 2017. In spring 2016, together with the partner

organizations, we analysed the changes required to the original programme

and made an updated programme for one additional year. The plan for this

extension year included activity plans to ensure the sustainability of the re-

sults and exit plans for the projects.

The last year of the programme was dominated by programme develop-

ment, especially related to the participatory planning of the next programme.

This programme planning included first the analysis of the current pro-

gramme, the challenges faced and the emerging development needs of the

rights-holders. Two planning sessions were conducted in the field together

with the partners, stakeholders and rights-holders, one for Africa and the other

for Latin America. Planning of the programme was supported by pilot projects

to test thematically and regionally the new approach.

In our programme and development communications, we reached a wide

audience of people, who are ordinarily not engaged in or informed about

development cooperation. The interest of these people was caught by high-

lighting the concrete link between their own cup of coffee and the well-being

of the rights-holders we supported, that is coffee farmers. This concrete link al-

lowed us to highlight such complex development issues as gender inequali-

ties and inequal power relations in international value chains. Our coopera-

tion with the mass media resulted in a total of over 6 million contacts. The

number of followers in our own social media channels grew noticeably: In

Facebook the number of followers rose from 25 000 in 2013 to over 52 000 follow-

ers in 2017.

From a development political perspective, the implementation period was

challenging. Following governmental budget cuts for development coopera-

tion, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs made a new, 47 per cent smaller funding

decision replacing the original decision for 2016. Despite this financial setback,

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FAIRTRADE FINLAND – DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION PROGRAMME 2014-2017 - FINAL REPORT 5

the programme’s total budget grew strongly supported by our own additional

finance. The trend of self-financing was on inclining trend, starting from the

first year’s 18 per cent and reaching over 50 per cent in the last implementation

year. This over one million euros of additional funding was secured through li-

cense fees collected from Finnish companies selling Fairtrade products as well

as donations from Fairtrade International, Fairtrade Germany and Fairtrade

Sweden. The share of the programme’s administrative expenses, in turn, was

constantly falling for the whole implementation period reaching 5.6 per cent

of the total costs in 2017.


CASC Autonomous Confederation of Sectoral Trade Unions, Dominican RepublicCEPAL the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the CaribbeanCLAC Coordinadora Latinoamericana y de El Caribe de Pequeños Productores de Comercio Justo (Latin American and Caribbean Network of Small Fairtrade Producers)CGCJ Coordinadora Guatemalteca de Comercio JustoCHPP Coordinadora Hondureña de Pequeños ProductoresCNCJ-NIC Coordinadora Nicaragüense de Comercio JustoCODImpact Collection of Data for ImpactCONRED National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction, GuatemalaCSOs civil society organizationsDAC OECD Development Assistance CommitteeFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFEDELAC Federation of Christian Agricultural Leagues, Dominican RepublicFIBS Finnish Business & Society ryFLOCERT the global certification body for FairtradeGDP gross domestic productGMO genetically modified organismHDI Human Development IndexHRM Human resource managementlb pound (~0,45kg)LDCs least developed countriesMEL monitoring, evaluation and learningMFA Ministry for Foreign Affairs of FinlandNFO national Fairtrade organizationNGO non-governmental organizationOECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentPME planning, monitoring and evaluationPN producer networkPRM the Modern Revolutionary Party, Dominican Republicqq quintal (~46kg)SDGs The Sustainable Development Goals SPO small producer organizationToC theory of ChangeUNGPs UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human RightsWRAC the Fairtrade’s Workers’ Rights Advisory Committee

Acronyms and abbreviations

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01. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND


Trade, if unchecked, often fails to deliver sustainable livelihoods and de-

velopment opportunities to small-scale producers and workers in poor

countries. Fairtrade is a multi-stakeholder, non-profit movement, which was

established to address this failure through the empowerment of small farmers

and workers and more equitable, inclusive and sustainable supply chains.

Fairtrade’s vision is a world in which all small producers and workers can

enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods, fulfil their potential and decide on

their future.

Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on

a partnership between producers and consumers. Fairtrade offers producers

a better deal and improved terms of trade. This gives them the opportunity

to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fairtrade offers consumers a

powerful way to reduce poverty through their everyday purchasing habits.

Fairtrade Standards form the cornerstone of Fairtrade’s approach. They are

designed to support the sustainable development of small farmer organiza-

tions and agricultural workers in the poorest countries in the world. One set of

standards applies to smallholders that are working together in cooperatives

(Small Producer Organization Standard) and the other set applies to planta-

tion workers (Hired Labour Standard). Standards set clear criteria to ensure

that the conditions of production and trade of all Fairtrade certified products

are socially and economically fair and environmentally responsible.

Poor producers often lack access to appropriate technical know-how and

extension services and are therefore unable to implement modern sustain-

1. Introduction and background

8


able agricultural practices. Pests, diseases and outdated farming practices

impact negatively on crop yields. Coffee production is also severely affected

by climate change. In particular, increased variability in rainfall levels and

drought conditions as well as frost cause reduced crop yields, threatening a

key economic activity and source of livelihood for millions of households in

the South. Small producer organizations have limited managerial capacity

and, in view of the high demand and tough competition in the market, are

often unable to fulfil their commitments to buyers and lenders, decreasing

trust among the supply chain actors.

Certification, even the most advanced kind, is not enough to achieve this

empowerment given the need to tackle the wider market forces and systemic

challenges facing sustainable development. Additional support projects and

programmes are needed to switch on the ignition for the empowerment and

development for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people. Projects

and programmes are also essential tools for development in situations where

certification schemes are not a quick fix – due to scale and complexity (like cli-

mate change) or the need for longer-term cultural or attitudinal change (like

gender equality and inclusion).

Fairtrade Finland bases its development cooperation on a rights-based and

participatory approach. With the participatory approach, we aim to ensure

the effectiveness, real ownership and sustainability of our projects. Our rights-

based approach empowers people as individual subjects and rights-holders,

but also as part of society. Another cornerstone of Fairtrade Finland’s develop-

ment cooperation is our ability to involve and link with the Finnish civil society

and private sector companies.


Fairtrade’s mission is to connect disadvantaged producers and consumers,

promote fairer trading conditions and empower producers to combat poverty,

strengthen their position and take more control over their lives. Fairtrade pro-

ducers and their legitimate representatives (PNs) are therefore at the forefront

of this programme as partner organizations. An inclusive green economy that

promotes employment is also central to Fairtrade Finland’s development co-

operation. The programme was empowering producers to access markets, se-

cure more value for their products and build sustainable livelihoods.

The Fairtrade system consists of the central coordinating body Fairtrade Inter-national, three producer networks and 20 national Fairtrade organizations (NFOs) in the consumer countries. Fairtrade Finland (in Finnish Reilu kauppa ry), was established in 1998 by Kepa, International Solidarity Foundation, Finn Church Aid, Finnish Association of World Shops, Martha Organization and The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. Currently there are 31 mem-ber organizations. Besides the development cooperation, covered by this final report, Fairtrade Finland supervises the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark, promotes the selling of Fairtrade products through business-to-business arrangements, and conducts communications and campaign activities to increase aware-ness about Fairtrade and the impact of Fairtrade in developing countries. Fairtrade Finland also supervises the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark in the Baltic countries.

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02. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION


2. Programme implementation

The goal of the programme was to build sustainable livelihoods for small-

scale producers. The programme included two components:

• More efficient and productive Small Producer Organizations (SPOs),

• Enhanced capacities of the producer network (PN) to deliver services and

advocate for its members.

The objectives also covered three cross-cutting themes based on the values of

the Fairtrade system:

• environmental sustainability,

• vulnerable people, and

• gender equality.

The original programme period was three years, but the duration of the pro-

gramme was extended by one additional year to cover the period 2014–2017.

This extension improved the sustainability of the projects’ results and gave

more time to plan our next programme together with the rights-holders and

other stakeholders. The Finnish government’s 47 per cent cut in 2015 to the

original funding decision did not affect project implementation as we were

able to increase our match-funding and keep the original project budgets.

The planning of new pilot projects, which were suspended in 2015 to save

costs, was continued and implementation started in late 2016.

The original plan for Fairtrade Finland’s development cooperation pro-

gramme was substantially larger, but as the funding decision was consid-

erable smaller than the applied amount, the programme was started with

the adaptation of the original programme to the 70 per cent smaller funding

decision. In 2014, in accordance with MFA’s recommendations, we refined the

original programme proposal and concentrated on one geographical area

and streamlined its objectives. Central America was chosen as the focus area

over Africa based on the widespread proliferation of the rust disease in the

area and increasing challenges caused by climate change to coffee farming

in the region.

The programme implementation was started with three projects supporting

coffee farmers in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and one regional

project developing the producer network in the Latin America and the Car-

ibbean. However, as the self-financing grew during the years, four smaller

projects were started towards the end of the programme: a pilot project in Peru

on human resource management of coffee cooperatives, two pilots in the Do-

minican Republic on labour rights of plantation workers, a regional pilot in

Africa for developing a framework for plantation worker projects, and a pro-

ject in Ethiopia linked to a Finnpartnership funded coffee project. In total, the

original four projects had 20,000 direct beneficiaries. Due to the approach of

training of trainers, the number of final beneficiaries of the projects was sub-

stantially higher. Especially the number of final beneficiaries of the regional

project with CLAC benefitted numerous producers all over Latin America and

the Caribbean. Additionally, the pilot projects benefitted especially agricul-

tural workers. For example, the regional African project had over 100,000 work-

ers as beneficiaries. The new pilots contributed to the development of Fairtrade

Finland’s new Development Programme for 2018-2021, which consists of new

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projects. Only the project in Honduras was decided to be extended until the

end of 2019, with more focus on the most vulnerable farmers, inclusion of

women and youth, and ending child labour on coffee farms.

All projects managed to implement their plans very well without any major

challenges. Annual workshops were organized with the beneficiaries and

stakeholders to assess the progress of the projects and to make recommenda-

tions for the following year. In 2017 external evaluations were commissioned

and review workshops were held covering the entire programme period,

where beneficiaries in different groups made a roadmap from the project’s

beginning to the present, analysing the changes in the operating environ-

ment and in their lives, and the achievements and results of the projects. Un-

expected changes and cross-cutting objectives were also analysed.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) commissioned a series of

evaluations of the Finnish Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) receiving multi-

annual programme-based support. Fairtrade Finland was included in the first

set of organizations and the evaluation was conducted in Winter/Spring 2016.

Guatemala and neighbouring Honduras were selected for the field study. The

evaluation concluded, among other things, that:

• The programme is highly relevant in that it is in line with the comparative

advantage of Fairtrade Finland and responds to the rights and priorities of

the beneficiaries and stakeholders. Furthermore, it is coherent with the de-

clared policies of the governments of Guatemala and Honduras and it is

substantially aligned with the priorities of the Finnish development policy.

• Expenditures for management, administration and technical assistance

* The project started its second phase in 2017 and extends to 2019, as a part of the new programme of Fairtrade Finland.** The project supported another project funded by Finnpartnership, through advice, monitoring and supplies.*** The project started in Q2 of 2017 and is a bridge-project for the workers’ rights component of the Fairtrade Finland new programme.

Country Goal, expected outcomes and key focus areas of the project Beneficiaries Duration

8 000 people,

16 SPOs

5 300 people,

16 SPOs

4 370 people,

13 SPOs

Latin America, regional

Sustainable livelihoods for small-scale coffee producers. Enhanced capacities of Producer Network to provide key services and advocacy for their members. Advocacy, climate change, youth.

359 000 people, 800 SPOs

2014-2017

29 people,

13 SPOs

Dominican Republic (pilot)

Improved hired labour workers’ livelihood. Enhanced capacities of local trade unions to negotiate collective agreements for decent wages in banana sector.

10 000 people 2015-2016

Dominican Republic (pilot)

Decent work environment for workers in the banana sector. Secured compliance with labour standards. Labour rights for migrant workers.

1 200 people 2016-2017

Ethiopia (pilot/support project)**

Reduced vulnerability in coffee production. Enhanced farmers’ productivity and strengthened organisational capacity. Youth.

- 2016-2017

Africa, regional (pilot)

Secured right to a sustainable livelihood for plantation workers in Africa. Solid foundation casted for future workers’ rights projects in Africa.

110 000 people 2017-2018***

HondurasSustainable livelihoods for small-scale coffee producers. More efficient and productive SPOs. Climate change, gender, youth.

2014-2019*

Peru Strengthening Human Resource Management in the coffee producing organizations. Youth. 2016-2017

GuatemalaSustainable livelihoods for small-scale coffee producers. More efficient and productive SPOs. Climate change, gender, youth.

2014-2017

NicaraguaSustainable livelihoods for small-scale coffee producers. More efficient and productive SPOs. Climate change, gender, youth.

2014-2017

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have been kept low and the team has not been able to identify other more

cost-efficient alternatives. The team’s assessment is that the outputs justify

the costs.

• […] the cooperatives are centres for technological and social innova-

tion, from which others in the surrounding local societies are learning. To

some extent this is because the Fairtrade cooperatives function as change

agents.

2.1. Operating environment

Whole programme period was characterized by the coffee leaf rust disease in

Central America. This la roya was the worst one ever seen in the Americas af-

fecting more than 50 per cent of the 2013 crop, causing significant yield losses

and destroying whole plantations in some areas. The outbreak was consid-

ered to be related to the climate change as a rise in night-time temperatures in

coffee-producing regions allowed coffee rust to flourish at higher altitudes. The

outbreak of coffee leaf rust drove output down to 16.8 million bags in Central

America at the beginning of the programme. By the end of the programme,

production had recovered to 21.92 million bags.

In 2015, an El Niño event led to serious drought - described as “one of the

worst on record” by FAO - that devastated crop losses and dramatically in-

creased food insecurity. World Food Program study found that nearly half of

the people they interviewed were food insecure - a new high for the region.

Three-quarters of households resorted to emergency coping strategies, like

selling land. In areas most affected by El Niño, migrant households whose

members had left the country between 2014 and 2016 cited “no food” as the

most important reason to emigrate. The programme’ main implementation re-

gion, Central America, avoided other major natural disasters, like severe hur-

ricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or landslides in the reporting period.

Banana plantation in the Dominican Republic, where couple pilot projects

were started, experienced severe hurricane damages.

Despite these challenges caused by diseases and natural events, econo-mies in all programme countries were growing at a rapid pace for the whole

programme period. The operating environment was relatively stable and ac-

tually one common factor for the programme period was the governments in

the office strengthening their grip with questionable tricks in cooperation with

supreme courts. Remittance flows decreased worldwide slightly but in Latin

America and the Caribbean, however, rose to a record high. The increase in

remittances to the region was primarily due to improved labour market condi-

tions in the USA. For Central America and the Caribbean, the robust economic

growth for these countries is due largely to the strong increase in remittances.

The price of coffee is not only significant for the projects’ beneficiaries. With

coffee being the main export commodity of the Central American countries,

the whole economy is affected by the changes in the coffee markets. The

harvest size and the price of coffee have a significant impact on job oppor-

tunities and demand for various services. The price of coffee has tradition-

ally fluctuated strongly, and the four years of the programme implementa-

tion was another rollercoaster period. After declining almost continuously in

2011/12 and in 2012/13, coffee prices recovered strongly at the beginning of

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the programme implementation. In the coffee production year 2013/14, the

biggest producer country Brazil suffered one of its worst droughts on record,

leading the price to jump from under US$1/lb in late 2013 to a high of 178.96

cents in April 2014. Drawdown of stocks accumulated in previous seasons, ex-

acerbated the downward pressure on prices in 2015. Prices started to pick up

in 2016 but since the last quarter of 2016 prices have been drifting downwards,

with rallies in some months (late January and early August 2017 in particular)

reaching the lowest level in 22 months as the programme ended in December

2017.

Global economy in the programme period was nicely recovering from earli-

er crisis, and finally also Finnish economy started to wake up from long down-

turn and stagnation. This positive development supported the achievement

of the programme’s objectives. Coffee consumption was steadily growing as

well with total of over 4,5 per cent increase in four years. The strongest growth

rates were witnessed in Asian markets.

2.1.1. Guatemala

Guatemala has some of the highest rates of poverty, food insecurity, and

malnutrition in Latin America, which are now further intensified by climatic

events. Of the 1.6 million Central Americans estimated to be moderately or

severely food insecure, almost 1 million are Guatemalan. Guatemala’s geo-

graphical location makes it very vulnerable to natural disasters. Every year,

storms destroy the country’s already poor infrastructure and important regions

used for export (especially coffee) and subsistence agricultural production.

Coffee is also constantly threatened by pests, resulting to serious economic

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damage, disproportionately impacting rural communities. The prolonged

drought of 2015 that affected all Central America, associated with the El Niño,

caused losses in the corn and bean crops in the Eastern Guatemala. In early

2017, the western highlands experienced record low temperatures affecting

approximately 25 per cent of crops. In the last quarter of 2017 heavy rains

killed at least 30 people and over 20,000 people were evacuated. Several roads

and bridges were destroyed, and houses damaged. The National Coordinator

for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) reported that Guatemala has faced the worst

winter in the last 25 years.

President Otto Pérez Molina’s (2012-2015) administration was characterized

by increasing polarization, especially following episodes of strong repression

of social protest and high levels of corruption. In 2015 there were widespread

but peaceful civil society protests in Guatemala, which led to the resignation

and arrest of first vice president and then the president Molina. A transitional

government completed the presidential term and oversaw the presidential

election against a backdrop of political instability and a constant crusade

against political involvement in organized crime. A former TV comedian Jim-

my Morales without any political background with support from a political

party founded by conservative former military officers with links to human

rights violations and criminal networks, took office in January 2016.

The new government inherited significant challenges: a large fiscal deficit

and state institutions lacking in legitimacy. Guatemala’s GDP growth slowed

down slightly from 4.1 per cent to a still impressive 3.1 per cent in 2016 and

slowing still to 2.8 in 2017 as both investments and consumption were slowing

down and trade deficit widening. Remittances sent home by workers abroad

carried the economy with steep increase trend of around 14 per cent per year,

representing 11.5 percentage of GDP in 2017. The period under review was

also marked by a rise in social protest against mining and hydropower pro-

jects in the country.

2.1.2. Honduras

The main structural constraints in Honduras include an unbalanced econo-

my, a poorly trained labour force and a highly unequal society. Taking into

account country’s history of coups d’état and military powers, the reporting

period was mainly relatively peaceful. Having won only 35 per cent of the

vote in the 2013 election, president Juan Orlando Hernández consolidated

his power, maintaining control over the main state institutions (e.g., National

Congress, Supreme Court and Supreme Electoral Tribunal) by appointing his

party colleagues to key positions. Supreme Court made controversial decision

in 2016 to overturn the single-term presidential limit to unlimited terms, allow-

ing the incumbent president Hernández to campaign for re-election in 2017.

The opposition rejected the president’s re-election project and declared it a vio-

lation of the constitution. In 2009, a similar attempt by the left-wing president,

Zelaya, resulted in a coup d’état, inducing a loss of confidence in the demo-

cratic system among Hondurans. Supreme Electoral Tribunal dominated by

Hernández loyalist declared him as the winner of presidential election with

just slightly over one percentage point 3 weeks after the elections were held.

Turbulent elections sparked a wave of protests and riots, and the programme

period ended with political crisis and uncertainty paralyzing part of the econ-

16


omy. This turmoil caused cancellation of some project activities as it was get-

ting too risky for project personnel and beneficiaries.

On the economic front, the picture was also mixed. While the macroeco-

nomic picture for Honduras looked reasonably good, structural inequalities

meant that quite few people benefited from the country’s economic growth

and stability. Nevertheless, Honduras’ economic expansion stayed on a rising

curve for the whole programme implementation period accelerating from 3.1

per cent in the beginning to almost 5 per cent in 2017. This development was

supported by an accommodative monetary policy and stable external condi-

tions. Another important component for the fast economic growth has been

the robustness of remittances jumping from a couple percentages to a 13 per

cent growth rate and thus forming already one fifth of the GDP. Socially, Hon-

duras is still one of the poorest countries in Latin America and one of the most

violent countries in the world. Corruption, violence, insecurity and drugs traf-

ficking are serious obstacles to the country’s development.

Although there were not any large-scale natural disasters in the last four

years, Honduran geography means that the risk of natural disasters remains

high. Year 2014 consisted mostly of the recovery from the leaf rust, and 2015

was characterized by a serious draught brought by El Niño, affecting coffee

production. After these difficult years, fortunately 2016 gave a pause with fa-

vourable weather conditions. But heavy rains specifically in the second quar-

ter of 2017 with several tropical storms affected many families with flooding

and damage to the plantations. The coffee growing areas were affected by

high humidity decreasing the quality of coffee. Damaged roads and bridges

caused logistical problems. Finally, the programme implementation period

ended with less rain, but several cold fronts damaging the harvests.

2.1.3. Nicaragua

Nicaragua is politically very polarized between pro- and anti-Sandinistas and

this division was further aggravated during the period under review. The po-

liticization of public administration, the justice system and the Supreme Elec-

toral Court, as well as the discretional use of public resources to support the

governing Sandinista party deepened. Politically the four-year implementa-

tion period was stable with Ortega dynasty winning a third consecutive term

in November 2016. However, the legitimacy of the elections was questioned

with accusations of manipulation of the electoral system and moves towards

increased state control. The concentration of power was facilitated by the

2014 constitutional reforms, enabling Ortega-Murillo dynastic regime. Protest

marches were organized across the country but widespread protests shaking

the government started only after the programme had ended.

Despite its weakening democracy, Nicaragua’s economy was the fastest-

growing in Central America with a GDP growth rate staying close to 5 per cent

for the whole programme period. Ortega’s third administration (2012-2017)

and the beginning of his fourth (2017-) were characterized by the continuity

of neoliberal macroeconomic policies and the continuation of the large social

programs. Family remittance growth accelerated from 5 per cent growth to 11

per cent forming 10.2 per cent of GDP. Economic growth came mainly from

the agricultural sector and a recovery in mining and manufacturing. On the

expenditure side, the election year’s higher government spending neutral-

17


ized the impact of a dip in household consumption. With food and fuel prices

relatively stable, inflation slowed down to under 4 per cent. The reduction in

Venezuelan aid has forced Ortega to find new allies, such as China and rein-

force its alliance with the Russian government. On a positive note, unlike in

neighbouring countries to the north, organized violence was not a problem,

despite underemployment, chronic unemployment and poverty, unsatisfac-

tory social conditions.

Besides leave rust fungus, the programme´s first year included also the

worst drought in 44 years. Severe four-month drought during the normal wet

season hit agricultural production affecting over 100,000 farmers. Staple food

prices skyrocketed. When the prolonged drought eventually ended in late

August 2014, it did so with such power that the government announced an

emergency to cope with the floods. Other years were not easy either, and the

programme period ended with heavy rainfalls in North and Central Nicara-

gua causing harvest delays and below average production.

2.1.4. Dominican Republic

The period under review was dominated by President Danilo Medina’s tri-

umphs in both political and economic arenas. After long internal and public

struggles, Medina beat ex-president Fernández in the battle for a constitution-

al reform to allow for immediate re-election. In the 2016 elections, Medina and

his party won by solid margins against the struggling new opposition party,

the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). The election was criticized for its poor

organization, the government’s excessive use of public resources.

Despite continuous high economic growth throughout the programme pe-

riod, social exclusion due to poverty, education and gender discrimination is

quantitatively and qualitatively severe and structurally ingrained. The Hai-

tian and Dominican-Haitian ethnic minority living in the Dominican Repub-

lic are hit particularly hard by social exclusions, and salaries are depressed

in sectors with high employment of this ethnic minority. Brexit ballot caused a

devaluation of sterling against the euro and the US dollar. As the UK is one of

the main markets for the Dominican Republic’s bananas, this had a negative

impact on income. The Dominican Republic’s banana production suffered

severe damage caused by hurricane Mathew and the heavy rains that fol-

lowed in November 2016. The loss for plantations was estimated to be around

30 per cent, reducing the demand for labour. The labour supply for the ba-

nana plantations was on the increase as the hurricane caused much greater

damage on the Haitian side of the border. However, the Dominican economy

maintained its strong growth momentum and outperformed all the econo-

mies in the Americas, buoyed by domestic demand. For most of the reporting

period, real GDP growth remained around 6 and 7 per cent but slowed down

a bit in 2017 to slightly under 5 per cent. Lower oil prices and a strong growth

in tourism more than offset an underlying weakness in goods exports. The

Dominican Republic is also dependent on remittances and on revenues from

the free-trade zones. Growth of remittances doubled from 6 per cent in 2016

to 12 per cent in 2017 forming 7.8 per cent of GDP. Nevertheless, economic

growth has not been inclusive, and the country’s challenges when it comes

to social inequality and health have not been addressed.

In October 2016, Dominican Republic started the registration process of all

18


foreign workers in a regular migratory situation in the Social Security Treasury,

with the presentation of corresponding documents that guarantee their im-

migration status in the country.

2.2. Programme impact and results

The goal of the programme was to build sustainable livelihoods for small-scale

producers. This was to be achieved through the development of both small

producer organizations and the producer network mainly in the Latin Ameri-

can region. The programme’s goal and objectives were:

All projects succeeded in contributing to the overall goal of the project. As the

programme started off in a situation where the coffee rust epidemic had near-

ly destroyed all coffee plants in Central America, the projects managed to significantly support the producers to regain their livelihoods and enhance the conditions for environmentally sustainable farming. Added to this, the

measures taken to adapt to changes and shocks in the environment ensured

a more sustainable production, and the actions taken to encourage the youth

and women to take part in the economic activities and to prevent child and

forced labour further enhanced the social level sustainability.

Each project had different indicators to measure the progress against the

programme goal, but in general terms the improvement in the scope of the

production, level of income and amount of produce exported were some of

the indicators observed to verify the change towards the goal. In Honduras

all the 13 SPOs that participated in the project improved their income level

and were projecting financial investments for capitalization. In Nicaragua,

Guatemala and Honduras the production of coffee grew by 107 - 120 per cent

and more coffee was exported. Also, the level of the capacities in the pro-

ducer organizations to manage their businesses was an important indicator to

verify the sustainability of the production and there was a significant positive

change in this area in all the projects. In the small pilot project in the Domini-

can Republic also, the systemic change started to take place for improvement

of conditions for plantation workers, as the management of the plantations

19


became aware of the workers’ rights and the workers started to register and

benefit from the country’s social security system.

In the following chapters we will take a closer look at the two main objectives

and expected results, as well as the cross-cutting objectives and beneficiar-

ies of the programme. The pilot projects are analysed in chapter 2.2.4. Pro-

gramme Development.

2.2.1. More efficient and productive small producer organizations

The programme’s first objective included three projects supporting coffee pro-

ducer organizations in the neighbouring Central American countries of Gua-

temala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition to these original projects, in

2016 we started a pilot project to improve coffee SPOs’ human resource man-

agement (HRM) skills in Peru. A small support project to enable the implemen-

tation of a bigger Finnpartnership-funded coffee-sector project in Ethiopia

with coffee producers was also added to the programme. Fairtrade Finland’s

partner organizations included CLAC, the Latin American and Caribbean

network of small Fairtrade producers, and its national producer organizations

in the project countries.

1 The Ethiopian support project is not included in the figures as it is a support project of the Finnpartnership funded main project and would not give fair picture of this programme’s share.

Under the first objective “More efficient and produc-

tive small producer organisations”, there were a total

of 17,743 direct beneficiaries, of which 33 per cent were

women1. The number of direct beneficiaries thus in-

creased significantly from around 9800 in the beginning

of the programme. Also, the cooperatives which were

not officially taking part in the project still participated in

some activities and thus the real number of beneficiaries

is substantially higher than presented. The total number

of producer organizations under the programme’s first

component was 58, more than the original 45, mainly

due to the new project in Peru.

THERE WERE A TOTAL OF17 743 BENEFICIARIES, OF WHICH 33% WERE WOMEN

20


The selection of beneficiaries was done differently in different countries: In

Guatemala, all the member organizations of the local Fairtrade organisation

CGCJ were officially part of the project but in Honduras and Nicaragua only

the weakest ones were selected for the projects. It should also be noted that in

Peru the number of direct beneficiaries is quite small as the project focused on

training just a few persons per cooperative, but the number of final beneficiar-

ies is considerably higher, totalling around 1400 workers.

The projects had 4-6 project level expected results, which the rights-holders

themselves had identified. These were very similar in all

three Central American projects due to their similar chal-

lenges and common ways of working. All these projects

had institutional capacity, improved productivity and

quality, better sales skills and facilitated access to finance as

expected results, but with a local emphasis and approach.

All three projects contributed towards the programme-level

goal of more efficient and productive small producer or-

ganizations and its five expected objectives. The Peruvian

pilot had a more specific focus on HRM capacity building, but it also contrib-

uted to productivity and quality as well as social development.

At the level of the programme goal “More efficient and productive small

producer organizations”, the programme succeeded in strengthening the

production capacities and efficiency of the SPOs. According to an external

evaluation from 2017 of the projects in Nicaragua and Guatemala:

“The general conclusion is that the projects have been successful in terms

of one of their two main objectives: the increase in the adaptability of the pro-

ducers to the climate swings that caused an increase in the incidence of cof-

fee diseases, especially the Rust. In addition, investments made in human

capital and infrastructure ensure a certain sustainability of the work done.

The achievements are clearly attributable to the efforts made through the

Fairtrade projects.”

The evaluator also stated that the projects were highly relevant and the ap-

proach to capacitate technicians and promoters in the SPOs, renovation of

coffee nurseries and the establishment of small bio-fertilizer plants, both en-

gaging youths, will most probably increase the impact of the projects in time.

Below is an analysis of each expected result under the programme’s first

objective:

Capacities of SPOs are improved The target of this result was to enhance capacities of the SPOs at different lev-

els so that they could manage their businesses in a sustainable and profitable

“THE PROJECTS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN TERMS OF THEIR MAIN OBJECTIVE: INCREASED ADAPTABILITY OF THE PRODUCERS TO THE CLIMATE SWINGS.”EVALUATION, 2017

2017 MALE FEMALE TOTAL SPOsGuatemala 4 942 3 099 8 041 16Honduras 3 418 951 4 369 13Nicaragua 3 554 1 750 5 304 16Peru 23 6 29* 13

total 11 937 5 806 17 743 58

DIRECT BENEFICIARIES

*the number of final beneficiaries in Peru was approximately 1400 workers

21


way. In all projects, the activities to improve the capacities of the producer or-

ganizations were strongly linked to gender and youth in order to increase the

SPOs’ capacities to better take these groups into account, both with targeted

special activities as well as by mainstreaming them to all activities. These are

explained more in depth in the section of the cross-cutting objectives.

The Central American coffee projects supported the preparation of strategic

plans for SPOs using the participatory approach and trained personnel in ad-

ministration, leadership, law and internal control systems. The projects sup-

for financial, administrative and techni-

cal assistance.

In Guatemala, the services provided

by the local Fairtrade organization to the

SPOs have been improved in terms of

quality and coverage. They include cred-

its for maintenance and pre-harvest, ag-ronomic technical assistance, training in post-harvest management, market-

ing, scholarships for education, as well as support to improve gender equity.

An important step forward by the Guatemalan Fairtrade organization was the

elaboration of its strategic plan that allows to consolidate the processes initi-

ated with the project; its components are: organizational strengthening and

technical assistance to the SPOs; strengthening the productivity and quality

of coffee; advocacy and strategic alliances; as well as gender, generational

respite, climate change, and social protection.

ported the production of several manuals and instruc-

tions like internal control, gender, youth and children

policies as well as manuals for cooperatives on credit,

accounting, traceability, and job descriptions. The pilot

project in Peru trained human resources managers in

occupational health and safety, performance appraisal

and labour regulations. They were also trained in the

compensation and benefits model for workers. Additionally, the occupational

health and safety committees of the producer organizations were strength-

ened.

The results of these interventions are very positive. As the external evaluator

of the projects in Nicaragua and Guatemala from 2017 stated:

“It is clear that capacities and knowledge have been strengthened and that

the fabric of cooperation between organizations has been strengthened by

exchanges, there is more mutual confidence and trust. Thanks to the techni-

cal assistance available, knowledge built in the SPOs was left for future ben-

efit, for example in the form of specific manuals such as good agro-ecological

practices. The training of technicians is an achievement with snowball char-

acter: it is an investment that is not lost.”

In Honduras, the documentation and operationalization of different process-

es resulted in improved governance and better inclusion and empowerment

of youth and women. The SPOs are capable to serve and support better the in-

dividual farmers, which is indicated in the improved results of audits conduct-

ed by FLOCERT as part of the certification system. The SPOs have also formed

several alliances and started collaboration with institutions and organizations

HONDURAS:SPOS THATHAVE A STRATEGICPLAN IN PLACEFROM 61% TO 92%

22


With the support of the project, beneficiaries have strengthened their institu-

tional and operational capacities, increased participation, solidarity, equity,

commitment to the environment, decent working conditions and transpar-

ency.

Guatemalan project’s annual workshop in 2016.

In Nicaragua all 16 SPOs of the project incorporate services for their members

in production, procurement of organic fertilizers, access to credit, technical as-

sistance and support in capacity building and commercialization. The SPOs

have established agreements with different stakeholders such as government

institutions, NGOs and international actors. Also, the active membership rose

from 30 per cent in 2014 up to 95 per cent at the end of the project.

The project in Peru improved the well-being of the producers and

the sustainability of their businesses through building producers’

capacities in human resources management. Especially youth

were targeted in the project and they received official diplomas

which allow them to work as service providers for the SPOs in the

future. The project was implemented in a close collaboration with the National University of San Marcos’ Faculty of Social Sciences, and students

from the university were working as peer-to-peer promoters for youth from the

SPOs. The university will also be responsible for the follow-up and strengthen-

ing of the project results. The project has worked as a pilot for human resources

management in the SPOs of Fairtrade system in Latin America and it is seen

that the best practices can be adapted by other sectors and countries as well.

Productivity and quality have improvedProductivity improved in all countries during the programme period. This was

evidenced by an increased performance of the cultivations and increased

production sold by the SPOs. For example, in Nicaragua the volume of pro-

duction sold grew by 20 per cent and in Honduras 11.5 per cent. However, the

productivity is expected to increase even further in the coming years, as the

new plants start to bear fruit and the actions done to improve the soil start to

affect the productivity of the plants.

The activities to improve the productivity and quality of all the Central

American coffee projects were strongly linked to the other expected result of

increased resilience to climate change and more sustainable production.

There was also a strong link to the cross-cutting

objectives of environmental sustainability, gen-

der equality and youth involvement. Empha-

sis on improved quality of the production was

even highlighted by the decrease in global cof-

fee prices during the programme and a lot of

effort was put in improving the quality control

of the production.

In all the three projects demonstration plots

were established. These plots are mostly run by

women and used to test new coffee varieties, to

organize trainings, and to test and show the ef-

fectiveness of good agricultural practices. The

plots were used to introduce coffee varieties

HONDURAS:PRODUCTIVITY IN COFFEE FROM 12,6 TO 17,5 QQ / HA

NICARAGUA:PRODUCTIVITY IN COFFEE FROM 6,4 TO 10,5 QQ / HA

PERU:JOB SATISFACTION IN THE SPOS FROM 10% TO 60%

23


that are more resistant to plagues and to plant fruit trees in the coffee planta-

tions for reducing soil erosion, also providing an alternative income source

for farmers. Apart from this, producers have been supported to diversify their

income base by starting honey production or cultivation for basic grains and

other farm products. This has contributed to farmers’ increased income and

makes them less vulnerable to shocks in the markets or in the environment.

As the coffee rust fungus caused severe destruction of coffee bushes, the

renewal of coffee plants has been highly prioritized in all the Central Ameri-

can projects. Numerous coffee nurseries were established to revitalize affect-

areas where the farms are located far away

from each other, the individual farmers have

also taken up bio-fertilizer production activities

at small scale at their own farms. The produc-

tion centres are distributing fertilizers to their

member farmers at a low price, and are thus

also contributing to lower production costs, as the farmers don’t need to buy

chemical fertilizers from commercial sellers and save also in transportation costs.

To improve the quality and productivity, the projects’ technical staff provided

agricultural advisory services for the coffee producers. In Honduras for exam-

ple, by the end of the programme all participating producer organisations had

policies for quality control in place and 85 per cent of the SPOs had quality con-

trol systems in operation. In Guatemala, also a guidebook was compiled. Other

activities to improve quality were the repair and construction of coffee drying

FARMERS CAN ACQUIRE ORGANIC FERTILIZERS AT LOW PRICES FROM PRODUCTION CENTRES RUN BY WOMEN, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND YOUTH.

ed farms. These nurseries have a total capacity of over one million

seedlings.

Trainings played a central role in improving productivity and

quality. These were organized both directly for rights-holders as well

as training of trainers and technicians. The training contents varied

according to local needs and priorities but included, e.g. organic

farming methods, establishment and management of demonstra-

tion plots, coffee rust disease management, establishment and

management of coffee nurseries, soil analysis, pruning, produc-

tion of fertilizers and identification of coffee pests and diseases. Sev-

eral exchange visits to other cooperatives with longer experience in

sustainable production and quality control were organized. The trainings were

practical and organized mostly at the projects’ Farmer Field Schools, demonstra-

tion plots or coffee nurseries.

In my opinion the best investment you can make is training people. The pro-

ject has come to give us new knowledge, this is what we admire about the pro-

ject and it is what we try to transmit to our producers, that we value the knowl-

edge, the training and that we put everything into practice.

Nelson Dionisio Ramos, Cooperativa CARSBIL, Honduras.

Another important factor was the production of organic fertilizers. These projects

supported producer organizations by acquiring materials for the establishment

of organic fertilizer production centres. These centres, mostly run by vulnerable

groups like the youth, indigenous people and women, serve as income gener-

ating initiatives. The SPOs have been able to test and develop different “recipes”

for fertilizers suitable for their context and based on the material available. In

NICARAGUA:IMPERFECTIONS IN COFFEE FROM 18% TO 12%

24


patios, the acquisition of quality control tools, strengthening the sampling lab-

oratories, and the rehabilitation of wet processing plants. In total, over 100 cof-

fee dryers were built. The main quality problems were analysed by cuppers

trained by the project, who presented recommendations for future. Chroma-

tography soil laboratories were installed in many SPOS and especially youth

were trained in their operations and soil analysis.

It is worth to note, that although harsh climate conditions (heavy rains,

drought, cold weather) affected the production in many areas during the

programme period, the quality of the product did not deteriorate and for in-

stance in Honduras the percentage of imperfections in the coffee decreased

by 33 per cent. DESPITE THE HARSH CLIMATE CONDITIONS, THE IMPERFECTIONS IN COFFEE DECREASED BY 33 PER CENT IN HONDURAS.

The systematization of the experiences of the

producers who benefitted from the programme

has also allowed sharing the best practices and

successes with other producers. This has been

achieved through supporting the SPOs and na-tional Fairtrade organisations in publishing small booklets or building web-

pages for more effective external and internal communication.

Just before the project we were discouraged and depressed by the leaf rust

and didn’t know much about good agricultural practices. We learned by do-

ing practices together, exchanging experiences, renewing the coffee bushes.

Now we have better knowledge. We take advantage of the resources and

new skills. And we have excellent demonstration plots!

Beneficiaries at the Nicaraguan project’s annual workshop in 2016.

The contribution of SPOs to social development is enhancedOne of the great achievements of the Central American coffee projects was

the increased social cohesion and commitment to collaboration. Although

this was not measured systematically through monitoring indicators, accord-

ing to the external evaluator it was evident in Guatemala and Nicaragua:

“The large number of exchange activities in the projects caused greater mu-

tual knowledge and cooperation: between the producers of an organization

and between the organizations in a country. This achievement is difficult to overestimate, since strengthening the social fabric at all levels of

society is fundamental to the long-term development process.”

Moreover, the SPOs were trained in forming development plans

for using the Fairtrade Premium, which is an important way to ad-

dress the development needs of the whole community and thus

expand the outreach of the overall impact of the projects. Wider

social development was considered for example by trainings on

certification criteria with an emphasis to allocate premium funds

for social development and to vulnerable groups. As a result, in Guatemala all the SPOs now have their development plans in place. It was

foreseen that from the 2017 onwards, with the additional production of coffee

supported by the project, the SPOs will be able to invest additionally $ 0.15 per

each pound of coffee sold as Fairtrade to social projects for the benefit of chil-

dren, youth, women and vulnerable adults. It is also noteworthy, that by the

end of the project 88 per cent of the Guatemalan organisations had increased

HONDURAS:SPOS INVESTINGIN ACTIONS FOR YOUTHAND WOMENFROM 39%TO 62%

25


their investments from the Premium in social actions, whereas before most of

them used it mainly for price supplements for famers.

The programme also trained the SPO personnel in social development, so-

cial inclusion and the prevention of child labour. These are described in sec-

tion 2.2.4 concerning vulnerable people.

Respect for workers’ rights is a prerequisite for development.

Yulu Yarin, Agraria Cafetalera Selva Alta cooperative, Peru.

Increased resilience to climate change and more sustainable productionEnvironmental sustainability and adaptation to climate change was one

of the cross-cutting objectives of the programme so these aspects featured

strongly already when the projects were planned. Particularly the activities

to improve productivity and quality had an additional objective to increase

resilience to climate change and to make production more sustainable, as de-

scribed above in the section of the second expected result of the programme

“Productivity and quality have improved”.

Coffee rust destroyed 80 per cent of our coffee cultivations. Thanks to the pro-

ject, we have been able to restore our coffee plantations. We have established

demonstration plots to train farmers in organic methods, and planted fruit

trees that will not only improve the soil and offer shadow for coffee plants,

but also provide nutritious food for families and even additional income. We

have also promoted honey production and animal husbandry, and that has

helped the families to overcome the difficult period after the rust.

Mauricio Gabarrete, vice-president, Flor de Pino cooperative, Honduras.

The capabilities of the SPOs in both mitigating the effects of the climate change

and to enhance the sustainability of the production increased. The projects

were highly successful in terms of measures to combat the coffee rust, which

resulted in a significant recovery in productivity (measured in quintals per

area unit). Both the data provided, and the testimonies of producers and other

interlocutors agreed that the installation of bio-factories and training for the management of plantations was a perfect combination to achieve

this result. Apart from increasing the productivity, the bio-factories

and demonstration plots serve as teaching and learning centres

for members in sustainable farming methods. For example, in Hon-

duras, 211 nurseries of forest plants were established for environ-

mental conservation and reforestation of water sources, and 191

nurseries of coffee plants with rust-resistant but good quality varie-

ties were established. Especially young people were encouraged to

GUATEMALA:100% OF SPOSPRACTICE SUSTAINABLEMETHODS

take part in exchange visits and trainings on sustainable agriculture, coffee

organization development and marketing.

I got a training through the project to work in our laboratory to test and ana-

lyse soil. I am also making fungus out of simple ingredients, that is added to

the soil as a fertilizer. Before many of our farmers were suffering from poor soils

that lacked nutrients, and that affected their production. Now we are offering

a testing service in our laboratory and provide the needed nutrients for them.

Wilfredo Lazo Domínguez, 31 years, RAOS cooperative, Honduras.

26


The results on increased environmental sustainability is described more in de-

tail in the section on cross-cutting objectives.

Market access has easedFor the SPOs, market access and the competitiveness of their product is the

base of the sustainability of their business. For many SPOs, the key is the quan-

tity of coffee they manage to sell as Fairtrade or as speciality coffee. This on

the other hand depends on the quality of their product as well as knowledge

of the market needs. The projects have transmitted knowledge to the organ-izations of improvement of the quality of coffee and preparation of special

coffees. The external evaluator noted about the projects in Nicaragua and

Guatemala, that:

“In our opinion, with the support of the project, it has been possible to strength-

en the capacities and performance of the SPOs in order to preserve the stable

commercial relations they have with their clients, buyers of coffee, with the

timely delivery and the expected quality of the traded product”.

The programme promoted the SPOs’ coffee through events and competitions

of special coffees with the objective to encourage the production of coffees

with special characteristics. The cooperatives participated in trade fairs nation-ally and internationally (Japan, USA and Ireland) by

sending a representative and coffee samples, and

by training their personnel on how to best take ad-

vantage of these events. Personnel were also trained

in market knowledge and risk management in cof-

fee exports. The experiences of the most developed

cooperatives were reviewed, identifying best export

practices and common bottlenecks. For example, in

Nicaragua the project organized a workshop on risk

analysis and market behaviour and an analysis of

the market situation and planning strategies for the

SPOs’ coffee sales. In Honduras, the creation of new

communication channels such as web-pages served

as a connection to the coffee market.

We want to add value to our product as much as possible. Through the pro-

ject, we got a coffee toaster, that is now employing women and youth. We

roast and package our coffee for local markets to diversify the income base of

the cooperative.

Mauricio Gabarrete, vice-president, Flor de Pino Cooperative, Honduras.

However, although the SPO’s sales grew and some were able to get new direct

buyers from the sales events, the general impression amongst the farmers is

that the present situation is not satisfactory and the demand for sustainably

produced coffee is lagging behind the offer, which means that much coffee

that meets requirements of certifications must be sold at a conventional price,

reducing the chances of getting a good income from the business. This is also

partly due to the fact that in most of the projects market access was not the first

HONDURAS:50% OF SPOS FOUND NEW DIRECT SALESPARTNERS

GUATEMALA:SPOS’ WORKING CAPITAL FROM $6,38 TO $10 MILLION

27


priority amongst the activities, as they focused on improving the quality and

production capacity first, and thus this needs more emphasis in the future. It

is also evident in the monitoring data, that most of the SPOs have managed

to keep their commercial partners, but only a few have gotten new clients -

though it must be noted that keeping a good client happy through various

years is also a good result. In the new projects of Fairtrade Finland’s Develop-

ment Programme for 2018-21, these learnings have been taken account and

for instance the coffee project in Honduras and the honey project in Guate-

mala have a strong emphasis on market access. Also, the measures already

started by the programme for the diversification of the income base of the SPOs

will go a long way to support the farmers at difficult times.

The table below describes some monitoring data to measure the achieve-

ment of the expected results of the programme’s first objective:

PROJECT

EXPECTED RESULTS Capacities of SPOs are improved

Productivity and quality have improved

The contribution of SPOs to social development is enhanced

Increased resilience to climate change and more sustainable production

Market access has eased

Guatemala

• farmers’ satisfaction for the services provided by the SPOs: 65% -> 85%

• SPOs that have capacity to identify and execute projects and apply for financing: 9 -> 16

• integrated best practices plans: 67% -> 100%

• average points: 83 -> 84 • imperfection: 3.28% ->

2% • classified as 1st class:

89% -> 90% • production collected

and delivered to SPOs: 79% -> 87 %

• SPOs having specific actions for women: 100%

• gender policy: 40% -> 100%

• # of women leaders 37 -> 57

• 28 bio-factories have generated organic inputs for 996 Has

• 100% of SPOs practice sustainable methods of soil conservation and waste treatment and use organic fertilizers

• SPOs’ working capital from financing institutions: $6,38 -> $10 million

• successful participation at fairs

• 100% of the SPOs’ clients satisfied with the product

Honduras

• strategic plan: 61.5% -> 92.3% of SPOs

• accounting software: 84.6% -> 100%

• SPOs that produce monthly financial statements: 3 -> 12

• 65% of SPOs improved productivity

• 53 % of SPOs increased sales by at least 10 %

• productivity: 12.6qq/Ha -> 17.5 qq/Ha

• quality control systems: 85% -> 100% of SPOs

• youth policy: 38.4% -> 53.8%

• 7 SPOs with policies against child labour

• 16 SPOs trained on child protection

• 41% of the youth involved in SPOs activities

• SPOs investing in actions for youth and women: 39% -> 62%

• 752 tons of solid and 29,500 litres of liquid organic fertilizers produced

• establishment of 500 Has of new coffee areas implementing agroforestry practices.

• 6 SPOs found new direct sales partners

• 4 SPOs improved their quality differential

Nicaragua • all SPOs have improved internal control systems

• all SPOs have signed agreements with government institutions, NGOs, international organizations etc

• active members in the SPOs: 20% -> 95%

• productivity: 6.4 qq/Ha -> 10.5 qq / Ha

• cultivated area by the SPOs: 105 Ha ->151 Ha

• average points: 83.35 -> 84.1

• 0 rejection of batches for any SPOs

• imperfections: 18% -> 12%

• time at coffee nursery: 8 months -> 4 months

• 15/18 SPOs include activities for vulnerable groups in their development plans

• all SPOs have a child protection policy in place

• 110 men from the SPOs trained on responsible masculinity

• 16 OPPs improved or provided new supply of organic inputs for its members

• 5% increase in reforested area to produce organic coffee

• 80% of producers use practices to adapt to climate change

• participation in Japan coffee expo lead to new market contacts

• SPOs that have new financial relationships 4-> 10

• SPOs that have a capitalization program for the use of FT premium as credit fund: 9->16

Peru • job satisfaction in the SPOs: 10% -> 60%

• 29 persons trained in HRM • internal management

processes strengthened in 13 SPOs

• 12 youth trained in human resources management

• technical teams in 13 SPOs trained in environmental issues

• mapping of potential disasters and preparedness plans made for 13 SPOs

28


Based on the monitoring data, the projects’ participatorily produced annual

reports, the programme and project evaluations, the views of the project and

regional coordinators, and the monitoring trips, it can be concluded that the

programme achieved significant impact. The programme was planned in

2012 and 2013 when the coffee leaf fungus was epidemic in Central America.

This situation required action in both stopping it from spreading and in pre-

venting it from striking again in the future. The programme managed to sup-

port the producers to gradually overcome the difficulties caused by the rust

epidemic. Thousands of hectares were planted with new, more resistible vari-

eties and hundreds of thousands of new coffee plants were planted. Produc-

tivity increased significantly. Profitability and customer satisfaction improved.

In 1985 we began to plant coffee. Later we looked for a better market access

and found Fairtrade. With this project, we have even further improved market

access and found direct export sales to Germany.

We are selling our product directly to the buyer, we do not have intermediar-

ies. Being organized is the only way we can get ahead.

Juan Ramón Pineda, CABRIPEL cooperative, Honduras.

But the achievements go beyond the recovery in coffee production and in-

come. The organizations have become more equal, their organizational ca-

pacity has increased extensively, and their livelihood stands on a more sus-

tainable footing. All the national networks especially mention that the role

of the participating CSOs in the local civil society has improved. They are

consulted more often by government authorities on issues related to rural de-

velopment and poverty reduction. There have also been several unexpected

THE ACHIEVEMENTS GO BEYOND PRODUCTION AND INCOME: THE SPO’S ARE MORE EQUAL AND INCLUSIVE, AND THEIR ROLE IN THE LOCAL CIVIL SOCIETY HAS IMPROVED.

results such as the spread of participatory meth-

ods, cross-cutting objectives that have been

taken widely in use, and results-based man-

agement is spreading. Seasonal workers were

not the target of the original projects but, for

example, in Nicaragua work at the established

coffee nurseries generated temporary employ-

ment for 2,700 people, of which 60 per cent were women.

The participation of the SPOs in the projects’ events has served to strengthen

and visualize the role of the national producer networks, strengthened con-

tacts between the SPOs, and enabled the sharing of experiences. All the local

producer networks are still fairly young organizations so building their capac-

ity and making their role more visible has proven to have greater importance

than we could have predicted. Strengthened local organizations are impor-

tant for the sustainability of the projects’ results, deepening and broadening

their impact in the future with additional interventions or simply with their

own resources based on their increased capacities.

The project is helping a lot to strengthen our base organizations directly. The

execution of the project is very interesting because we are developing capa-

bilities in the cooperatives based on the concrete needs that these organiza-

tions have. Thus, the project’s impact and results are very efficient and of high

quality.

Marcos Morales, vicechair of the CHPP, Honduras

29


2.2.2. Enhanced capacities of the producer network

The original programme at the application stage included more projects un-

der the second programme-level objective, but due to budget restrictions,

only one project was left: Development of the Latin American and Caribbean

producer network (CLAC), which was also Fairtrade Finland’s implementing

partner organization for the project. CLAC is the co-owner of the Fairtrade in-

ternational system and the representative of the Fairtrade producers in the

region. Its mission is to represent and promote the interests, empowerment

and development of its members and communities. Currently, it has over

800-member organizations in 24 countries across the continent. It is structured

through Country Networks (that bring together producers of different prod-

ucts from the same country), Product Networks (that bring together producers

with the same product, but from different countries), and a Workers Network

(representing plantation workers).

The role and mandate of the regional producer networks (PNs) have

changed gradually. PNs have taken more responsibility of previously central-

ly organized producer support. The purpose of the project was to support the

network to improve its support and services to its members after its changed

mandate and increased role.

The project contributed to the enhanced capacities of CLAC in three differ-

ent areas: organizational, technical and advocacy. It covered the whole re-

gion of Latin America and the Caribbean, and several products. Although re-

gional-wide physical meetings and trainings were difficult and expensive to

organize, and there were several political and socioeconomic changes affect-

ing direct beneficiaries or project activities across the region, the project man-

aged to support the regional producer network significantly in the process to

meet its increase role. The external evaluation of the project concluded, that:

“At the level of results, it can be said that the project has been (very) success-

ful. The effectiveness is great and demonstrable, the relevance also (the result

of satisfaction surveys), it is highly efficient and sustainability looks positive.

[…] Most of the goals that CLAC had proposed in the project were achieved,

and it is plausible that this has contributed to achieving the purpose: a bet-

ter capacity of CLAC to provide services to its members, expressed in greater

satisfaction of these.”

30

2017 Final beneficiaries

MALE FEMALE TOTAL SPOs CLAC, regional 276,210 83,210 359,420 800


The evaluator also concluded, that the results are highly sustainable: CLAC

has expertise, an operational structure and financial resources available for

giving continuity to the procedures that have been established by the project;

there is political and operative will - by the management, producers, workers

and operational personnel - to work on these processes also in the future; and

there are clear procedures in place.

The number of final beneficiaries increased

from 316,000 people to 359,000 as the SPOs’ mem-

bership increased from 624 SPOs in 2014 to more

than 800 in 2017. Particularly women’s partici-

pation increased by 13 per cent.

Below is an analysis of each expected result under the programme’s second

objective:

PN has improved organizational capacities to fulfil its adjusted mandates and rolesCLAC was able to improve its organizational capacity in various areas: lead-

ership skills and human resource management, representativeness, and for-

malization of processes and policies. The members’ knowledge of PN’s roles

increased from 88 per cent to 96 per cent.

New policies on gender and social protection were formed. Although rep-

resentativeness of women in the SPOs is still rather low (21 per cent), the new

policy instrument that provides strategies to make progress in gender equality

mainstreaming within CLAC. Likewise, it is a useful tool to encourage asso-

“THE PROJECT WAS EFFECTIVE, RELEVANT, EFFICIENT AND MOST OF THE GOALS WERE ACHIEVED.”EVALUATION, 2017

ciate organizations to make use of this in empower-

ment processes of their memberships and their inte-

gral development. Also, generational transition and

youth inclusion have been taken as a cross-cutting

theme in CLAC’s work. A regional Youth Meeting was

held, and a Gender and Youth Inclusion Commis-

sion was appointed at CLAC’s Board of Directors, with

the purpose of guiding and accompanying the staff

in the strategies definition and implementation. The

Social Protection Policy addresses issues of child pro-

tection and prevention of forced labour in the SPOs.

Leadership trainings were provided for 25 key leaders

of the network. Processes for human resource management were significantly

strengthened and plans and strategies were developed to give continuity to

specific actions. After a Human Talent consultancy, a new Unit of the Human

PARTICIPATIONOF WOMENAND YOUTHIN CLAC’SACTIVITIESINCREASEDBY 65%.

31

2017 Final beneficiaries

MALE FEMALE TOTAL SPOs CLAC, regional 276,210 83,210 359,420 800


Talent was established.

The project contributed to the increased representativeness of CLAC, as the

strengthened organizational capacity enabled them to include more mem-

bers. The membership grew from 624 in 2014 to over 800 producer organiza-

tions.

Due to limited resources compared to the large geographical area, CLAC

decided to focus the activities of the first result on one product network, Coffee

Network, which also represents 50 per cent of CLAC’s members. The objectives

related to leadership and internal regulation and formalization of the Coffee

Network were met. The idea is to use the Coffee Network as an example to

stimulate the strengthening of the other Product Networks within CLAC, and

already during the last year of the project steps were taken towards strength-

ening the other Product Networks, based on the experiences of the Coffee

Network. The external evaluator noted, that “This is where the relevance and

added value of a General Network (CLAC) that facilitates mutual exchange

and learning processes is manifested”.

PN has improved technical capacity to provide and deliver key services to its membersCLAC’s central role is to provide technical assistance and capacity building

services to its members in different countries. The project supported CLAC to

extend these services and to establish a permanent technical capacity for

providing these services in the future.

As a result of the project, the members have received a greater number of

services: accompanied field visits, workshops, manuals, studies, guides and

trainings. For example, manuals on marketing and participation, on price

calculation and exercises for new SPOs and on climate change with youth

integration were prepared. Also, a regional coffee

specialist supported and provided advise on coffee

production, price setting and market access. These

actions were reflected in the increased satisfaction

of the members: up from the baseline’s 65 per cent

to 82,5 per cent.

In 2017, the project also supported the publication

on the study on the contribution of Fairtrade to the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which CLAC

wrote together with the United Nations Economic

Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

CEPAL.

Climate change adaptation was one of the cen-

SATISFACTIONOF CLAC’S MEMBERSINCREASED BY 17,5%

tral topics selected for concrete actions conducted in the project, as it had

been prioritized by the SPOs and the key area where they need more support.

Therefore, various trainings and workshops were held around this topic. These

also contributed to the development of the new Fairtrade Finland Develop-

ment programme for 2018-2021, where Climate Change Advocacy will be one

of the projects implemented in the Latin America and Caribbean.

32


PN has strengthened capacity to carry out advocacyThis objective included strengthening communication capacity and promot-

ing CLAC members to take action on adaptation to climate change and politi-

cal incidence, thus contributing to the empowerment, self-management and

resilience of Fairtrade certified producers.

Some of the concrete results include the development of CLAC’s website,

which already include various publications, and where news is published

frequently. The CLAC YouTube chan-

nel has nearly 100 videos including

stories and testimonials of the impact of

the Finland funded projects as well. The

acquired knowledge documented and

shared in the form of publications of dif-

ferent forms will support the sustainabil-

ity and scale-up of the project results in

the long run. Also, as the number of member SPOs is increasing and new

members joining, communication has become even more important to en-

sure the transparency and transfer of the knowledge.

The producer networks’ advocacy capacity was greatly increased by the

project’s contribution. Advocacy became one of the key strategic focus areas

of CLAC and an advocacy strategy was published. The strategy states that

the CLAC and the Country Networks, as actors of change, influence decision-

making processes, propose specific legal frameworks and public policies, and

promote strategic alliances with related organizations at local, national, re-

gional and international levels. Many of the actions are focused around cli-

mate change, a major threat that the producers are experiencing now and

in the future.

Public policy mapping was conducted

in three countries of the region (Ecuador,

Colombia and Brazil) and national work-

shops to build advocacy strategies were

held for Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay. Al-

together eleven advocacy actions were

registered by member organisations at

national level, for example in Costa Rica

on the organic food law, in Paraguay

on participatory guarantee system and in Chile on public policies regard-

ing cooperatives and Fairtrade. Other concrete actions included promotion

of Fairtrade cities and universities in different countries, to raise impact and

awareness on Fairtrade and responsible consumption in the Latin American

and Caribbean societies.

The table below describes some monitoring data to measure the achieve-

ment of the expected results of the programme’s second objective:

8 ADVOCACYACTIONS WEREREALIZED ONADAPTATIONTO CLIMATE CHANGE.

A NEW CONTINENT WIDE STRATEGY AND THREE NATIONAL STRATEGIES ON ADVOCACY WEREPRODUCED.

33


2.2.3. Cross-cutting objectives

The three cross-cutting themes of the programme – environmental sustain-

ability, inclusion of vulnerable people and gender equality – were analysed

during the projects’ planning phases, incorporated into the project plans and

carefully included in the project activities. In the following sections, each

theme is looked at more closely, with an analysis of the programme’s results.

2.2.3.1. Environmental sustainability and adaptation to climate change

Fairtrade Standards promote environmental sustainability through sustain-

able agricultural practices, including integrated pest management, preven-

tion of soil erosion, improvement of soil fertility, sustainable use of water sourc-

es, sustainable waste management, protection of biodiversity, prohibition of

GMOs, use of renewable energy as well as the reduction of greenhouse gas

emissions. The programme supported the integration of

an environmentally and climate friendly ap-

proach as a cross-cutting objective in the SPOs’

operations, and environment and climate re-

lated activities were planned as integral parts

of all the projects. Therefore, many results and

activities contributing to the cross-cutting theme

have been described in the earlier sections of

programme result. For instance, demonstration

plots for environmentally friendly production

methods, soil analysis and improvement, bio-fac-tories for preparation of organic fertilizers and pesticides, establishment of plant

nurseries introducing new, resistant coffee varieties, and the reforestation of

water sources, were implemented in all three coffee projects.

PERUMAPPING OF POTENTIAL DISASTERS AND PREPAREDNESSPLANS WERE MADE FOR ALL SPOS.

OBJECTIVE 2 Enhanced capacities of the producer network to provide key services and advocate for its members

• CLAC promotes actions to adapt to climate change: altogether 8 actions realized • Increased participation of women and youth: 1473 -> 2429 • Members promote actions of political incidence: altogether 11 actions realized • CLAC has improved communication mechanisms: 20 new mechanisms, e.g. web-pages, videos, new communications strategy

EXPECTED RESULTS

PN has improved organizational capacities to fulfil its adjusted mandates and roles

PN has improved technical capacity to provide and deliver key services to its members

PN has strengthened capacity to carry out advocacy

INDICATORS • satisfaction of CLAC members to the service they receive: 65 % -> 82,5 %

• 25 new leaders trained • new Human Talent Policies and

Procedures on training of staff • social protection and gender policies • Women and youth committees formed • 2 international youth and women’s

meetings • development and socialization of the

Youth Inclusion Strategy

• 3 guide books produced (on marketing, climate change and inclusion of women and youth)

• coffee trainings for 60 SPOs • coffee network’s governance

and decision-making mechanisms defined

• study on agricultural insurance • manual on sustainable use of

water

• new continent-wide advocacy strategy • study of public policies on fair trade and

solidarity economy made and published in print media in at least two countries

• mapping of politics in Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil

• national advocacy strategies for Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay

• knowledge of PN’s roles: 88% -> 96% • register on effects of climate change • 13 employees trained on climate change

34


In the regional project under the programme’s second objective a large

part of the resources was devoted to the development of actions related to

climate change, with a target to improve the services of the PN to its members

on this issue. A survey was conducted to collect information from the SPOs

on the impacts, vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation to climate change,

for a more complete picture of the current situation. Tools for capacity build-

ing were developed and five workshops based on those were carried out in

Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. In El Salvador, support was extended

for the recovery of natural ecosystems by planting native trees. A manual on

the sustainable use of water was published in Spanish and Portuguese and

a guidebook was produced on adaptation to climate change. A regional

workshop on climate change for youth and various workshops in different

countries on the use of mountain micro-organisms were facilitated. Videos

on recycling of cooking oil to make biodiesel and on climate change were

published.

Environmental sustainabil-

ity and adaptation to climate

change are long-term pro-

cesses and it is too early to re-

port major results or causal-

ity. There are some noticeable

improvements, however, and

we can say that at least the

capacities of the SPOs have increased. For example, the use of chemicals

has been reduced thanks to their own organic fertilizer production. In Nica-

ragua, 80 per cent of the producers now use environmentally friendly meth-

ods of farming and 100 per cent have established bio-factories for organic

fertilizer production. Also, higher soil humidity has been achieved at critical,

dry times. The projects have renewed over 2 million coffee plants with more

resistant variants making them less vulnerable to diseases and the changing

climate. Farming areas earlier used for subsistence crops using chemicals

have been converted to organic forested coffee plantations. The producers’

capacity to face any further challenges has increased with practical train-

ing on sustainable farming.

Before the coffee rust epidemic, we were not prepared for the effects of cli-

mate change or natural disasters. Now we are wiser and doing many things:

planting resistant coffee varieties, testing and improving soil, planting trees

and using organic fertilizers. We have our own factory for bio-fertilizers and

pesticides, so we are not only protecting the environment, but also saving

money we used for buying chemicals.

Marlin Deras and Ariel Vargas, Flor de Pino cooperative, Honduras.

Without a doubt this project will generate greater technical capacity. There

is a commitment to what we have received and learned in training, we will

put it into practice and offer other producers ways for more ecological pro-

duction, as a measure against the climate change that we are currently fac-

ing.

Eugenia Valladares, COCASAM cooperative, Honduras

GUATEMALA:28 BIO-FACTORIESHAVE GENERATEDORGANIC INPUTSFOR 996 HAS

35


This project came to open our eyes! We were blind, we were destroying what

our children would inherit.

Family of Paz Contreras, Honduras

2.2.3.2. Vulnerable people: Youth participation and child protection

Another key element of Fairtrade’s work is the protection and involvement of

vulnerable people, including children, youth and seasonal migrants. In par-

ticular, the involvement of youth in the cooperatives’ activities was carefully

taken into account in all projects.

The three coffee projects under the programme’s first

objective aimed at increasing young people’s interest in

the coffee industry. In many areas, the youth don’t see

their parents’ profession lucrative, so the project activi-

ties for youth served as an introduction and a first step

for involvement in the cooperative work. This will sup-

port generational renewal and helps to reduce the risk

of young people migrating to the big cities or abroad in

search of job opportunities. Activities included training and activating youth

committees and supporting the development of youth strategies in SPOs. The

youth were prioritized as beneficiaries and opportunities created for them to

get them involved in coffee production and producer organizations. These

initiatives included quality control, cupping, fertilizer production, value ad-

dition, marketing and solar drying. In Guatemala, for example, 30 young

people were trained on organic certification requirements and accredited as

internal inspectors in organic production.

There are not many opportunities in our communities for youth. When the

Finnish project started four years ago, I got the opportunity to study organic

farming. After that, I got a job in Flor de Pino cooperative’s factory of organic

fertilizers. I love my job and I can now provide for my three children and stay

close to my relatives.

Heidi Veras, 31 years, technician, Flor de Pino cooperative, Honduras.

In Nicaragua, 99 young promoters (35 per cent of them women) were trained

on production and technical support, and 19 of them graduated from the

National School of Coffee in Ocotal and got certificates in sustainable produc-

tion. In all three countries youth were trained in organic fertilizer production.

Not only are the bio-factories working as a model for sustainable economic

activity, they are also an alternative source of income for women producers

and young people, contributing to improve the family economy. In Honduras

the youth participated learning and exchange visits, and were trained in soil

analysis, coffee quality control, preparation and marketing of specialty cof-

fees.

NICARAGUA:SPOS WITH YOUTH POLICY FROM 38,4% TO 53,8%

36


Before I didn’t consider coffee farming as a profession for me, it was something

my parents and grand-parents had always done. When the project came to

our community, I learned that there are many interesting and innovative

things one can do around coffee apart from farming itself. I got involved and

now I am excited about my job. I am responsible of our newly built bio-facto-

ry and the distribution of organic fertilizers to cooperative members and my

friends are also asking about how to get a similar work.

Victor Ramón, 20 years, CAFESCOR cooperative, Honduras.

In the regional project, follow-up meetings and training related to CLAC’s

Commission for the Inclusion of Gender and Youth were supported. A region-

al meeting of young people was organized in Paraguay, where the CLAC’s

Youth Strategy was socialized, analysed, and validated by the representatives

from Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

The regional youth meeting allowed an exchange of experiences from the

different countries of the region, in which young people from Latin America

and the Caribbean evaluated from their perspective the challenges and po-

tential solutions. The inputs collected in this event constituted one of the main

bases on which we will begin to build the Strategy of Inclusion of Youth of

CLAC.

Xiomara Paredes, Executive director, CLAC.

Single mothers and indigenous people were other vulnerable target groups

of the coffee projects. They were encouraged to join cooperatives, take part in

trainings and proceed to leadership positions. In the Guatemalan project the

direct beneficiaries are mainly from different ethnic Maya groups. In Hondu-

ras, the indigenous group Lenca forms a large part of the beneficiaries in the

South-Western part of the country and 15 per cent of the total direct beneficiar-

ies of the project. All three coffee projects under the programme worked to-

wards the eradication of child labour. It is a tradition in the

coffee growing communities to take the whole family to the

field, so a lot of awareness raising and clarification of misper-

ceptions on the issue is needed. The project personnel par-

ticipated in campaigns and workshops on child protection.

The projects also encouraged SPOs to allocate social premium funds to child

protection and vulnerable people.

In Nicaragua, discussion sessions were held on child labour and child pro-

tection. In Guatemala, all participating SPOs designed their own policies on

child labour, with a target to generate conditions where all children have

access to education do not have to work. In Honduras, seven policies against

child labour were developed at the SPO level. The project partnered with child

protection organisations in the area. Three workshops were held on child pro-

tection with Plan Honduras. Together with World Vision, an event called was

organised with representatives from eight local organizations and in coordi-

nation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, followed by a training

on child rights for a group of children and their parents. Based on the infor-

mation received from these events a campaign was realized, together with

NICARAGUAALL SPOS HAVE A CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

37


a local radio, covering two departments of the country. Until now, nine SPOs

in Honduras have managed to abandon child labour and all 13 report they

invest funds in community projects for women and children. In the regional

project CLAC’s Social Compliance Policy, focusing on the elderly and child

protection, was formed and implemented.

The need to focus the next programme on more vulnerable groups was

identified during the early phase of the planning process of our new develop-

ment cooperation programme in cooperation with the rights-holders. To pilot

this approach, three small pilot projects were started. Two of these pilots fo-

cused on immigrant workers in the Dominican Republic and one on seasonal

workers in Peru. In Honduras, the follow-up project includes further awareness

raising and changing attitudes among the producers.

This project has reached the heart of many producers! We focus more on

young people and women so that they can have a stake in the organization.

Isela Vásquez, COAQUIL cooperative, Honduras

2.2.3.3. Gender equality

Ensuring the right to sustainable livelihoods for producers and workers can-

not be achieved without addressing the critical issue of gender equality. Fair-

trade Standards endorse equal rights for women, counter gender discrimina-

tion and promote women’s participation in the decision-making bodies of the

producer organizations. Certified organizations are mandated to change the

way they operate internally, to become more gender conscious and promote

equal opportunities for both men and women.

In Fairtrade Finland’s development cooperation, gender equality is consid-

ered throughout the project cycle. Special attention was given to gender

equality during all the projects’ planning workshops and analyses. The pro-

jects of the programme involve multiple strategies to address the barriers to

women’s participation in SPOs.

The project trains us and involves more women in the organization and thus

jointly we are able achieve the goals that we have set ourselves.

Griselda Rivera, COAQUIL cooperative, Honduras

Under the programme’s first objective’s four coffee projects, the gender activi-

ties could be divided into three groups: organizational development, train-

ing on gender equality and special production-related activities targeted for

women.

• The whole organizational development section has a strong emphasis on

gender in all projects. The projects supported partner organizations and

SPOs to develop gender strategies and mainstream the gender perspective

to their internal regulations and instructions. The projects supported the

establishment and development of gender committees for the producer

organizations. For example, in Guatemala the project supported the for-

mation of a national gender committee of coffee producers by facilitating

38


formation of by-laws and strategy, trainings, gender policy and activity

plans. The newly formed committee organized a 3-day workshop for pro-

ducers’ daughters on gender and participated in the regional forum on

“Successful Leader and Gender Experiences in SPOs”.

• Several workshops and trainings on gen-

der issues were organized for produc-

ers, board members and technicians.

For board members gender equality

was highlighted as an empowerment

mechanism and the institutionalization

of democratic governance processes. In

the workshops for technicians (mostly

men) masculinity, domestic violence and responsible parenthood were

included. For example, in Nicaragua, all SPOs held at least one event

where gender equity and equality were addressed and the importance

of generating spaces in governance bodies for women’s participation, as

well as sensitizing leaders to non-violence and non-discrimination against

women.

GUATEMALASPOS WITH GENDER POLICY FROM 40% TO 100%

• As women are a minority in the Central American

coffee SPOs, ranging between 22-30 per cent of mem-

bers, the projects included special activities targeted

for women. Several small business opportunities were

supported, like coffee roasting and marketing for the

local markets and the production and sales of or-

ganic fertilizers. Most of the demonstration plots and

nurseries set up with the programme’s support are

run by women. In Honduras, women groups have

been formed in SPOs and one SPO is formed by wom-

en only. They also take the benefit of promoting the

women’s involvement in their marketing and brand-

ing of their products.

We are a small women’s cooperative of 69 members. Before our husbands

were managing everything, but we decided to start our own business. As

women, we are better in managing the finance and administration, and

everybody is working very hard. We have our own bio-factory, a hired tech-

nician and software for accounts keeping. We have also managed to fun-

draise from development to scale-up our business even further. Our plan is

to start roasting some of our coffee for the local market and to buy a vehicle

for more effective logistics. Personally, this project has helped me so much. I

have been able to recover my small plantation, plant citrus trees and start

using organic fertilizers.”

Irma Quintero, APROLMA cooperative, Honduras

Under the regional project, CLAC’s gender policy was developed and ap-

proved by the board. The project has encouraged the participation of wom-

en in cooperatives throughout the region and supported producer organiza-

tions to take gender into account in all their activities and encouraged SPOs

to update their internal instructions and regulations to better take gender into

GUATEMALA: NUMBER OF WOMEN LEADERS IN SPOS FROM 37 TO 57

39


account. A video documenting a woman producer’s day was published and

shown in several fairs and international events. As a result, the participation

of women in project activities increased considerably, from 1473 instances in

2014 to 2429 in 2017.

Gender has also been mainstreamed in the pilot projects’ activities (see the

next chapter on programme development) but due to the shorter implemen-

tation period and lighter planning procedure, gender is not as strongly in-

volved as in the original projects. For example in Peru, in activities such as risk analysis of occupational health and safety, the risks were analysed

from the gender point of view and the human resource manage-

ment trainings included a section for gender equality. In the Domini-

can Republic, a workshop for workers and middle managers from the

beneficiary plantations was held on gender and masculinities, and in

the standard formed for complaints and suggestions, a specific section

for cases of sexual harassment was established.

Women have acquired better positions both in the cooperatives and

in national instances. For example, in Honduras a female member

of a small cooperative Flor del Pino is on the board of directors of Co-

operatives’ Federation of Agrarian Reform in Honduras (FECORAH).

In Guatemala, for the first time a producer woman from the national

gender commission was democratically elected to the post of secretary

of the Guatemalan Fairtrade organisation (CGCJ) board of directors.

At the beginning of the Guatemalan project about 40 percent of the

cooperatives had a gender equality program but now everyone has

one and the share of women on the boards of directors has increased from 22 per cent to 35 per cent.

It is a remarkably strong empowerment that has been demonstrated by the

women producers who formed the National Gender Commission of the CGCJ

– both in their active participation in the new positions of governance and de-

cision-making bodies, and specifically in the drive for the promotion of the ad-

vocacy strategy to achieve higher levels of equity between men and women.

Baltazar Francisco Miguel, Chairperson of the CGCJ, Guatemala.

2.2.4. Programme development

The constant development of a programme’s implementation, monitoring

and administration is very important for the effectiveness of development co-

operation. This was especially the case in 2016 and early 2017 when the pro-

gramme development component included both the development of the first

programme and the comprehensive and participatory development process

of the next programme.

The reporting period being Fairtrade Finland’s first development cooperation

programme, it was started with the development of a robust quality manage-ment system. The effectiveness of Fairtrade Finland’s development coopera-

tion is based on ownership and local priorities, harmonization, results-based

approach, sustainability, transparency, human rights, equality and justice,

40


efficiency and minimal aid dependency. To ensure the quality of our devel-

opment cooperation, the quality assurance system focuses on reliable partner

organizations, planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME) and Risk Man-

agement. PME section includes a set of planning and reporting tools and tem-

plates. Most projects were planned based on these planning principles and

tools; only for small pilot projects a lighter process was applied.

In the second implementation year, Fairtrade Finland’s Programme cycle management document was produced. This document provides standard

operating procedures and processes for the identification, formulation, imple-

mentation, and evaluation of producer & worker support programmes in the

Global South. In doing so, it ensures stakeholder involvement in programme

management and a coherent, effective, and efficient management of pro-

grammes that are relevant to Fairtrade’s overall strategic framework, partial

strategies (such as product strategies), and needs of producers and workers. It

further clarifies the involvement of relevant parties at each step of the process

and puts a particular focus on impact monitoring, evaluation and learning

in order to fulfil our mission.

Fairtrade Finland started to develop next MFA partnership development cooperation programme in a participatory and inclusive way, following the

steps defined by the Programme cycle management document. In early 2016

we started the first round of the planning process, which included the active

participation of Fairtrade International’s advisors, as well as the partner organ-

izations from Africa and Latin America. Having our ToC as a base, PNs identi-

fied key priorities for implementation in line with the present challenges and

opportunities facing their regions. Our main partner in the first programme,

CLAC, analysed the lessons learnt from the first programme. Background in-

formation, such as experiences from previous development cooperation pro-

jects and findings and recommendations from the evaluations, was collected

to inform the planning. It was jointly decided that the programme should

have a broader approach, set focus on the least developed countries (LDCs),

and improve the situation of workers alongside supporting farmers. Middle

income countries were decided to be included only in the case of exceptional

vulnerabilities.

In parallel with strategical planning, the implementation of pilot projects to

test the feasibility of new ideas and to ensure the smooth start of the new wider

programme, was started in 2016. These pilot projects in the Dominican Repub-

lic, Ethiopia and Peru were especially testing, how to improve the rights of

the agricultural workers. When the structure of the new programme started to

take shape, it was agreed to shift the thematic focus to include not only farm-

ers but also agricultural workers, and to broaden the geographical focus from

Central America to the less developed Africa. To test the new approach and to

ensure a smooth transition to the new programme, we started a regional work-

ers’ rights pilot project in 2017 in Africa. With this project, we are able to collect

valuable information from the field for the several new projects supporting

workers.

The second-round of the planning process included two multi-day work-

shops held in the field in September 2016 in Kenya and in October 2016 in El

Salvador. Apart from Fairtrade Finland staff, over 40 people participated rep-

resenting producers and workers, and including thematic experts on gender,

youth, workers’ rights, climate change, and MEL. In these workshops the focus

41


was further sharpened, the main challenges for each region were analysed

and project ideas were brainstormed in small groups.

A separate consultation session was organized for the hired labour compo-

nent of the programme in Ghana in February 2017. The participants were

members of the Fairtrade’s Workers’ Rights Advisory Committee (WRAC), which

has a mandate from Fairtrade International’s board to coordinate hired la-

bour issues and facilitate cooperation between Fairtrade and the trade un-

ions. The members of WRAC consist of trade union representatives, Fairtrade

hired labour experts and NGOs promoting workers’ rights. In addition to mem-

bers of WRAC, owner and worker representatives from two Fairtrade certified

plantations, took part in the consultation meeting.

A final prioritization exercise was conducted to determine the programme’s

geographical and product scope. For the selection of countries, several criteria

- like climate change vulnerability, HDI and OECD/DAC classification of child

labour risks, gender gaps and workers’ rights risks - were used as a basis for

discussion with thematic and regional experts, and the countries were then

rated. A final planning workshop was held in Bonn in late April 2017 with rep-

resentatives from CLAC, FTA, Fairtrade International and several NFOs.

In 2016 we started two interlinked pilot projects in the Dominican Republic to

improve banana workers’ situation. The companies’ prior, somewhat hostile

attitude against the trade unions changed towards a common agreement on

how to improve the sector. In late 2016, migrant workers in Dominican Repub-

lic gained access to social security Although the projects alone did not make

this happen, the hard consultation and advocacy work in the long planning

process played a small role. The project implemented in cooperation with the

local Confederation of Trade Unions (CASC/FEDELAC), established provincial

trade unions for banana workers and trained worker representatives on work-

ers’ rights and collective bargaining. It managed to reach its set objectives,

but project administration proved to be difficult for the trade union lacking

project management experience. Thus, despite being successful with the

set objectives, the project was prematurely ended in 2017. The other project,

implemented by CLAC, trained company management on grievance han-

dling, safety regulations and human resource management.

The regional pilot project in Africa, which was started in late 2017 to test re-

gionally and thematically wider approach, sought best practices to support

worker empowerment to educate and empower workers and their unions to

negotiate living wages and improved conditions and build the capacity of

partner unions to engage in dialogue with national and international supply

chain actors. The project also studied and experimented ways to strengthen

the social dialogue and remediation of human rights violations to raise work-

ers’ capacity to understand their rights and exercise those. Social dialogue,

also covering topics such as health & safety, was implemented in close col-

laboration with local and international trade unions. The project was imple-

mented in Ghana (bananas), Ethiopia and Kenya (flowers), Malawi (tea)

and South Africa (grapes). Most of the next programme’s projects in Africa are

based on the experience of this pilot project.

42


We are not enemies of the owners. We both have the same aim: to be success-

ful and fair trade. We want their business to succeed as that means more –

and more sustainable – work opportunities. We are in the same boat, we don’t

want to sink the boat.

Luciano Robles, general secretary of the trade union. Dominican Republic


The theme of the projects responds directly to the mission of the partner organi-

zations, which creates commitment and sustainability. Ownership has been

exceptionally high. It was proven to be the right decision to give most of the

responsibility to the field: the partners’ capacity has increased, they have be-

come more independent and they were proven to be trustworthy. However,

one important lesson learnt is that the roles and responsibilities of each part-

ner have to be more clearly and better agreed from the outset.

As the MFA’s evaluation pointed out, the cooperatives act as change agents. They are centres for technological and social innovation, from which

others in the surrounding local societies are learning. The strategy of estab-

lishing organic fertilizer production centres linked to the establishment of

demonstration plots has helped to transfer knowledge to other producers and

neighbours in the community. This aspect will be further developed in the

next programme.

The programme and the projects under it covered a relatively large num-

ber of small producer organizations – 58 in just four coffee projects – which

means that there are inevitably some changes in the contact persons and

the structures of the organizations. As a result, institutional memory is fragile.

For example, in 2016 one cooperative union (UCPCO) broke up into several

smaller organizations.

During the programme, the limits of the programme-level monitoring based

on project-level indicators and the project-level monitoring system came up.

Already for the last additional year we piloted a programme-level monitoring

system based on certification data and Fairtrade International’s CODImpact

(Collection of Data for Impact) tool. CODImpact is a digital tool that provides

more comprehensive data in order to assess the impact of Fairtrade’s work.

This unique system-wide monitoring enables us to get reliable, programme-

level monitoring data. Next programme’s monitoring system is based on these

aggregable indicators enabling real, programme-level monitoring covering

different products and very different regions.

Another point that has been clarified during the implementation is the need

for advocacy work, both in Finland and in the field. In Finland, there is a

need to increase the companies’ knowledge of the UNGPs and what they are

required to do in order to prevent and mitigate human rights risks in their sup-

ply chains. In the field, the producer organizations would need support for ad-

vocacy work. The final evaluation of the Guatemalan project recommended

that “CGCJ needs to strengthen its advocacy capacity in order to influence the

development and application of public policies in favour of small producers.”

The programme evaluation commissioned by the ministry made the same

conclusion, recommending that we “should emphasize specifically the ca-

43


pacity building of the coffee cooperatives, as well as that of their umbrella or-

ganisations for lobbying and advocacy with an emphasis on non-confronta-

tional methods suitable for the political situations”. The advocacy component

of the regional CLAC’s project grew much bigger during the implementation

than was originally planned, and for the next programme advocacy will be

one the three components of the programme.

The Finnish government cut sharply development cooperation budget in

2015 basing its calculations on average funding decision. As our programme’s

original budget’s trend was steeply rising, these cuts meant a 47 per cent re-

duction from the original funding decision for 2016. Fairtrade Finland, how-

ever, was originally prepared to implement a much bigger programme and

thus we managed to keep all projects’ field budgets at the original levels by

increasing our self-funding. We also cut our domestic Helsinki costs – commu-

nications and administration – to accommodate the operations to the substan-

tially smaller government support. This especially affected our communica-

tion work in Finland. The cuts also caused some additional workload and thus

there was not as much time for the monitoring and facilitation of the projects

as previously.

The programme was started with an exceptionally strong euro of 1.35-1.40

against US dollar, but in the first third of 2014 it began to devaluate fast reach-

ing 1.05 at the end of Q1/2015. This substantially weak euro rate against the

projects’ budget currency of USD continued for the next 2 years and started

to improve only in the last year of implementation. Original programme was

budgeted at the time of strong and stable euro, and rate’s fast drop from 1.40

to 1.05 caused some uncertainty and cautious budgeting. The project budgets

were agreed in USD, and fortunately our financial position enabled us to keep

the promised USD-budgets also in the time of weakening euro. For the plan-

ning of the new programme quite conservative budgeting rate was used.

The seasonal nature of coffee production created some challenges because

the coffee producers, the prorogramme’s main beneficiaries, are not avail-

able for time-consuming activities like trainings during the harvest season.

Therefore, activities must be scheduled carefully, especially as the harvest

season varies slightly depending on the microclimatic conditions. The same

seasonal nature applies to most agricultural products, with exception of ba-

nanas which produce all year round.

Youth were one important target group of the programme. We noticed that

they require quite fast decisions and they want to see progress and long-term

opportunities, otherwise they look for some other option to base their future on.

Youth wanted skills, knowledge and economic sustainability from the activi-

ties. They proved also to be less conservative in gender roles than their parents.

In general, the main lesson for us was that the development cooperation

system that we created for our first programme proved to be functional, effec-

tive and efficient.

2.4. Assessment of the sustainability of the results

The sustainability Fairtrade Finland’s development cooperation is embed-

ded in Fairtrade standards, reliable partner organizations, participatory plan-

ning, a robust programme-level monitoring system, minimal aid dependency,

44


sustainable exit strategies, rigorous risk management and an anti-corruption

policy. Fairtrade standards – such as sustainable and equitable trading rela-

tions, good governance in organizations, respect for human rights, protection

of the environment, minimum price and sourcing plans – play an important

role in ensuring the sustainability of the projects’ results. Fairtrade standards

like the Fairtrade Premium are also significant in helping to address the devel-

opment needs of the whole community and thus expand the outreach of the

overall impact of the projects.

The projects aimed to reach a large number of beneficiaries with small sup-

port instead of a small number of people with large support. This way we can

avoid aid dependency and ensure that the beneficiaries’ livelihoods are im-

proved in an economically sustainable way. This approach also avoids caus-

ing unfair competition in the local market.

In the planning phase of the programme we strongly focused on participa-

tion to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the projects’ results. The

solid structure and the partnership model of the beneficiary organizations of

the projects are important for the sustainability of the activities and the results

of the projects. The organizations are governed by democratic structures with

a gender equity approach where members in the general assemblies define

the rules, procedures and strategic decisions that ensure the institutional sus-

tainability of the projects.

Capacity building of the producer organizations was important focus in the

project design. Responsibility for the implementation of the projects was partly

given to local cooperatives, which raised their capacity and thus increased

the sustainability of the projects. They have become more efficient and profit-

able in their coffee production. The projects have also supported the diversifi-

cation of their sources of livelihood. These new initiatives, like fertilizer produc-

tion, are now run independently by the SPO members trained by the projects

and thus they are financially sustainable. The projects included quite a large

number of cooperatives and to increase their socio-economic, technical and

administrative sustainability, SPOs appointed reference persons to ensure the

continuity of the work after the project phased out. The project level final eval-

uation of the projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua stated that “the manage-

ment of the two projects must be assessed as highly efficient and committed.

They were in the hands of serious and motivated professionals with a consid-

erable mobilization capacity. It is highly positive that in the different design

phases the beneficiaries themselves have been able to participate in discus-

sions on how to approach the projects.”

Final evaluation of the Guatemalan project stated that “The achievements

directly related to the cultivation, processing and commercialization of coffee,

would be assumed to be able to secure continuity and, as seen in the partici-

patory evaluation sessions – there are clear signs that this will be the case.”

The evaluation also concluded that “In the socio-cultural aspect, taking into

account that the target group has been almost totally indigenous people of

the same ethnic group, in which everything is managed in a very communi-

tarian and family way, it can be said that the new knowledge and practices

that they have learned and acquired with the support of the project, would

be applied sustainably in future to improve their living conditions.”

The evaluation commissioned by MFA stated that “A number of factors in-

dicate that the results of the programme might be sustainable. The partners

45


in Guatemala and Honduras have a strong sense of ownership. The farmers

take a particular interest in coffee production and are keen to apply the new

techniques promoted by the projects and show a willingness to bear the costs.

In addition, the programme is successful in promoting generational involve-

ment, which is fundamental for sustainable coffee farming.”

The projects have made important connections and established coopera-

tion relationships with national and international institutions which will con-

tinue after the end of the programme. For example, in Peru the partner organi-

zation La CNCJ Peru signed cooperation agreement with National University

of San Marcos’ Faculty of Social Sciences for human resource management

strengthening. The projects have also targeted youth to establish next genera-

tion of coffee producers and thus increasing sustainability of the achieved

results. To further secure sustainability of the projects, we have used the model

of training of trainers so that these trained trainers are further training the pro-

ducer organizations which were not part of the project. The final evaluation

of the Peruvian pilot project concluded that “The execution of the project has

been an important pilot of human resource management. As that has been

common weakness in many SPOs in Peru, and this project will serve as a repli-

cation model for the organizations which could not participate. This way it has

been a sustainable project with promoters of human resource management

who can offer their services to other organizations.”

Most of the projects ended in 2017. The additional year of the programme,

which was granted by MFA, was very useful for better securing the sustain-

ability of the projects’ results. The final, additional year’s activity plans were

made by analysing what needs to be done to ensure sustainability and a

smooth handover. Despite the end of these projects, the organizations involved

will remain important, natural partners for us in our other operations. In this

way the close relationship will continue, which helps in ensuring the sustain-

ability of the results. In Honduras we started a follow-up project in 2017, which

will continue under the new programme until 2019. In Guatemala we will

start a project, which is partly based on the previous project, for diversifying

coffee producer organizations’ livelihoods through honey production. The pi-

lot projects of the Dominican Republic and the regional African workers’ rights

project will continue under the next programme.

46

FAIRTRADE FINLAND – DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION PROGRAMME 2014-2017 - FINAL REPORT40

03. COMMUNICATIONS


3. Communications

In addition to informing about the work done in the South and raising aware-

ness about larger development issues, the aim of our communications was

that Finnish people would take part in solving the same global problems that

the programme’s work in the South was addressing. The projects carried out in

the South and the communications work in Finland thus shared the same in-

divisible goal – contributing to the achievement of sustainable livelihoods for

small-scale producers. Without demand for the farmers’ products, the produc-

tive improvements accomplished through the programme would not have

improved the living conditions of the farmers.

An individual Finnish consumer can support farmers in developing coun-

tries to access the market not just with their own consumption choices, but

also through comprehensive public participation. The communications ac-

tivities in Finland addressed both these aspects. Further, we have engaged in

advocacy work to make Finnish companies’ sourcing more sustainable. This

approach of pushing for coherent changes throughout the value chain and

the whole programme is unique in development cooperation.

The objective of the communications was that Finnish people would recog-

nize the links between their lives and activities, and the livelihoods of farmers

in developing countries. To achieve this objective, we used two components:

programme communications and development communications

3.1. Programme communications

Our programme communications aimed to raise general awareness about

coffee farmers´ living standards and highlight the changes our programme

achieved in coffee farmers’ livelihoods and living conditions. We communi-

cated the outcomes of the programme regarding improvement in productiv-

ity, quality and market access, strengthening organizational capacity, adap-

tation to climate change and the fight against coffee rust.

We used the organization´s own digital channels and cooperation with me-

dia to reach the target audience. Fairtrade Finland reaches tens of thousands

of people through its own digital channels. The current number of our Face-

book followers is over 50.000. A photographer visited coffee cooperatives in Lat-

in America and gained high-quality photos and quotes from the farmers. We

utilized these in our social media channels to highlight the programme and

the outcomes. In addition, we produced an animation about the programme

which was published on Facebook and YouTube.

Fairtrade Finland cooperated with the biggest commercial radio channel

EXPECTED RESULTS Target audience2 knows about the programme and the achieved permanent changes in the farmers’ livelihoods

2 Target audience = In addition to value-based segmentation of consumers, the communication activities were also targeted to relevant organizations such as universities, Fairtrade parishes, Fairtrade towns and municipalities, workplaces, other NGOs and potential businesses that develop, import, sell and consume Fairtrade products.

48


(Radio Nova), the biggest commercial tv channel (MTV3), and with Sanoma

Media Finland, the news web page of Helsingin Sanomat and HS Kuukausi-

liite, to reach a wide target audience. The programme was also taken up on

Morning Television (AamuTV, YLE) and in several radio interviews over the

four-year period.

The annual nationwide advocacy campaign, Fairtrade Week, offered us

the opportunity to raise these issues every October. The key objective of the

campaign was to increase awareness concerning the origin of coffee produc-

tion and the challenges the coffee farmers are facing.

3.2. Development communications

Our development communication and advocacy work have aimed at deep-

ening Finnish consumers’ and food and textile companies’ awareness of

Southern smallholder farmers’ and workers’ challenges and highlighting the

roles that consumers and companies can play in solving these challenges.

Strongly informed by our programme activities, we have highlighted the

challenges of agricultural production, sustainability and diversification of live-

lihoods, gender relations, child rights, climate change and sustainable use of

natural resources. Focusing on questions related to jobs, likelihoods and well-

being, this work has supported the priorities of Finland´s development policy.

Our work has built on our extensive social media channels, an annual ad-

vocacy campaign, continuous dialogue with private sector representatives

and close collaboration with other Finnish civil society organizations.

During our annual advocacy campaign, Fairtrade Week, we activated

thousands of people to participate in seminars and trainings, organize Fair-

trade coffee breaks and speak out in favour of more sustainable consumption

and production in social media. These campaigns engaged individual con-

sumers, companies involved in food and textile sectors (supermarkets, hotels,

restaurants and cafes) as well as Fairtrade parishes, cities, universities and

workplaces.

EXPECTED RESULTS

Consumer awareness about the small farmers’ challenges and the injusticies of the international trade system has increased

Individual Fairtrade supporters’ commitment has deepened

The awareness of the companies in the food and textile industries about ethical sourcing and hu-man rights risks in supply chains has increased

We were among the most active Finnish civil so-

ciety organizations in raising relevant stakehold-

ers’ awareness of Business and Human rights and

the UNGPs. To raise corporate awareness of their

human rights responsibilities, we participated in

the multi-stakeholder round tables on the retail

and textiles sectors and organized one seminar,

MEDIA:OVER 6 MILLIONCONTACTS

two full-day trainings and two breakfast seminars for corporate audiences.

In 2017, our advocacy work focused on the theme of living wage and living

income. We utilized a public seminar and social media to raise Finnish com-

panies’ awareness of the current situation, their responsibilities and potential

49


OBJECTIVE: Finnish people recognize the links between their lives and activities and the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries

IND

ICA

TOR

S • Recognition of the Fairtrade mark: 75% --> 89% • People´s knowledge of what Fairtrade stands for and what is its aimed impact: 75% --> 80% • Trust in Fairtrade among those who recognize the Fairtrade mark: 69% --> 66%

Equivalent to 52% --> 59% of the whole Finnish population • Share of committed consumers: 16% --> 13%

EXPE

CTE

D

RES

ULT

S

Target audience knows about the programme and the achieved permanent changes in the farmers’ livelihoods.

Consumer awareness about the small farmers’ challenges and the injustices of the international trade system has increased.

Individual Fairtrade supporters’ commitment has deepened.

The awareness of the companies in the food and textile industries about ethical sourcing and human rights risks in the supply chains has increased.

IND

ICA

TOR

S

- Campaign received media coverage in several nationwide media channels

- The cooperation with the mass media resulted in a total of over 6 million contacts.

- Communications carried out by our partners reached hundreds of thousands of people: o Companies: several hundred thousand people via social

media, newsletters, communicational materials in stores and restaurants, and advertising.

o Fairtrade towns: every year thousands of people via events and social media, organizing Fairtrade coffee breaks, and articles in local newspapers

o Fairtrade parishes: thousands of people via Fairtrade coffee breaks

o Fairtrade universities: >10,000 university students reached o Member and other organisations: over hundred thousand

people reached every year via social media and at least thousand via events

- # of committed supporters increased by 10 % every year3.

- Fairtrade Finland’s own digital channels reached the committed target groups: 52,100 followers in Facebook (25,100 in 2013) and 3,2500 followers in Twitter (1,800 in 2013).

- Meetings in 2014-2017 with over 100 new companies that are not part of the Fairtrade movement yet

3 Committed supporters consist of the working groups in Fairtrade towns and universities, active key persons in Fairtrade parishes and Reiluttajat, the trained active citizens. Active followers and likers in the social media channels are excluded from the indicator as there is a separate indicator to measure the development in the social media.

solutions to low wages and incomes in global supply chains.

We have also built a 15 NGOs strong coalition and commenced a four-year

campaign (2017-2020) to further promote socially sustainable public procure-

ment. The first activity of this coalition, which we coordinated, was the publish-

ing of a “Tips for sustainable procurement from developing countries” -guide

in September 2017.

3.3. Results

Based on TNS survey data, it can be concluded that our communications

achieved significant impact in raising Finnish people’s awareness about

3 Committed supporters consist of the working groups in Fairtrade towns and universities, active key persons in Fairtrade parishes and Reiluttajat, the trained active citizens. Active followers and likers in the social media channels are excluded from the indicator as there is a separate indicator to measure the development in the social media.

50

*As the recognition of the Fairtrade mark among the Finnish population rose by 14 %, the over all proportion of all Finns trusting the Fairtrade mark also rose by 7 %, although there was a slight decline in trust among those Finns who recognise the mark.”

*


Southern farmers’ challenges and the injustices of the international trade sys-

tem. The share of Finns who know why Fairtrade exists and what impact Fair-

trade seeks rose from 75% to 80%. Recognition of the Fairtrade mark rose even

more, from 75% to 89%.

Our success in communicating about complex development

issues in a manner that is understandable and interesting to a

wide audience also shows as growth in our social media follow-

er numbers. The number of our Facebook followers increased

from 25,100 in 2013 to 52,100 in 2017.

In conclusion, Fairtrade has an important societal role in Fin-

land in raising consumer and corporate awareness on social

challenges in supply chains, far trading practices and corporate responsibil-

ity to respect human rights.


During the programme, we focused on coffee farming in our communication

and advocacy campaign messaging. One of the lessons learned was that

repeating the same message is required. The campaign themes about the

coffee farmers – their working conditions, the importance of development re-

garding their livelihoods and the challenges they face due to climate change

– are not adopted immediately, so repeating the message is critical in order to

achieve the desired change in awareness and attitudes.

We also continued to face challenges in popularizing complex international

trade themes and made further efforts to develop concrete and plain messag-

FACEBOOK: FROM 25 100TO 52 100FOLLOWERS f

ing to get the message through

the media and to be understood

by citizen-consumers.

When organizing trainings for

volunteers, we faced the much-discussed trend of people using less and less time for institutionalized NGO

activities, even though they still want to influence the world around them as

consumers and individual citizens. The same trend also means that the vol-

unteers participating in the trainings don’t want to commit to very long-term

activities as they are more interested in shorter – but still meaningful – partici-

pation. We will take this into account when planning our future advocacy

campaign actions as well as other activities for volunteers and active citizens.

Based on our experience, we see a great need to deepen the knowledge of

small and medium-sized companies in the food and drink industry about hu-

man rights and how business impacts human rights. In order to provide more

in-depth knowledge, concrete support and tools for implementing the UNGPs

in their business practices, Fairtrade Finland launched cooperation with FIBS,

the Finnish corporate responsibility network.

Concrete indicators and easily available measurable data are key for the

evaluation and development of the communications work. Some of the in-

dicators we were originally using are not easily available or getting the data

requires a relatively large amount of resources in terms of budget and work-

ing time. Therefore, during the implementation of the programme we modi-

fied the indicators in order to measure the achievement of the objectives more

accurately.

TRUST IN FAIRTRADE FROM 52% TO 59% OF FINNS

51


04. ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT FUNCTIONS


4. Administration and support functions

In 2016, Fairtrade Finland underwent an organizational restructuring in

order to meet the needs of its strategy for 2016–2020, and to adjust its re-

sources according to the MFA funding cuts without cutting the field budgets.

As a result, the permanent staff size was reduced from 11 to 10 full-time equiv-

alents. Four employment contracts were terminated, but one redundant em-

ployee was offered a new permanent contract and two were hired as ma-

ternity leave replacements with temporary contracts. In addition, one new

full-time post and one part-time post were established (and filled externally

in 2017), and more than half of the existing job descriptions were changed

in order to address the needs of the current strategy. The new full-time post

strengthened Fairtrade Finland’s advocacy work, which will have a bigger

role in our new programme.

The programme was implemented in close cooperation with Fairtrade In-

ternational. This decentralized structure was chosen to avoid duplication, to

achieve efficiency and to be able to leverage the expertise of Fairtrade Inter-

national. Fairtrade Finland’s personnel’s work time used on the programme

decreased slightly during the programme in order to adapt to the decreased

government funding. A deferred average of around 2 people (from 2.4 in

2014 down to 1.95 in 2017) worked with the development cooperation pro-

gramme. In Finland we had only one staff member, the programme manag-

er, working full-time on the implementation of the development cooperation

programme. The programme manager was also responsible for developing

PME tools and ensuring the quality and accountability of the programme.

The programme manager was also facilitating the projects’ planning and

monitoring the implementation as well as designing the programme’s an-

nual plan and report for the MFA. In addition, three to five people from Fair-

trade Finland’s communications personnel used part of their worktime for

the development and programme communications. The amount of the to-

tal annual worktime of communications staff for the programme decreased

during the implementation, declining from a total of 6.4 months to a total of

3.4 months in 2017. For the administration of the programme, three people –

finance manager, executive director and administrational assistant – used a

total of 5 months annually for the programme.

The workplace atmosphere survey of the employees was carried annually.

Despite the painful restructuring and a redundancy round, the results of the

anonymous online survey stayed good with an overall atmosphere rating

ranging around 4 out of 5 for the whole programme period.

Finnish civil society is well represented on the Fairtrade Finland board

which consists of representatives of development cooperation organizations

(e.g. Finn Church Aid and Kepa), trade unions (all three central organiza-

tions have a joint representative), political youth organizations as well as

other NGOs like Pro Ethical Trade ry and The Martha organization. The board

has the overall responsibility for the activities of Fairtrade Finland in accord-

ance with the legislation as well as the values and principles agreed by the

organization’s bylaws and the General Meeting.

Fairtrade Finland and Fairtrade International have formed a joint pro-

gramme decision-making body comprising of representatives from both

53


organizations. This Steering Committee held teleconferences to give general

guidance and oversight for implementation. To backstop activities in the field

and to contribute to capacity building at the local and regional levels, ex-

perts in Fairtrade International allocated part of their working time to this pro-

gramme. These Fairtrade International staff members, together with Fairtrade

Finland’s programme manager, form the programme team. See the chart be-

low for the coordination structure.

In 2017, the projects were audited by HLB in El Salvador where the four pro-

jects’ bookkeeping was centralized, by Sarmiento & Asociados in Honduras,

Estudio Gayoso Valdera y Asociados in Peru and Peter Githae & Associates in

Nairobi. The auditor of Fairtrade Finland (Marko Reponen, KHT - Signia Tilin-

tarkastus Oy) inspected and commented on the project audit reports accord-

ing to the MFA’s guidelines.

In the last programme implementation year, project activities reached over 83

per cent share of the total expenses. All original projects’ implementation in

dollar terms were near 100 per cent and in euro terms over 98 per cent as well.

New pilot projects’ implementation rate varied more, especially the workers’

rights pilot project in Africa. The project is meant to serve as a bridge between

two programme’s piloting new approach and its implementation will contin-

ue in the first half of 2018. Other budget lines were implemented with around

100 per cent rate (see the table below). Administrative costs were 53,846 euros,

equalling only 5.6 per cent of the total programme costs.

In 2017, the MFA provided funding totalling EUR 380,000 for Fairtrade Fin-

land’s development cooperation programme. Additionally, EUR 67,451.91 of

funds transferred from the previous year was used, totalling 447, 452 euros of

54

AGM

BOARD ExecutiveDirector

Programme Manager

Regional Coordinator Objective 1

Project Coordinator

(Gua)

Project Coordinator

(Hon)Project

Coordinator(Nic)

Project CoordinatorObjective 2

Pilot projects’ project

coordinators

Communications personnel

Admin & Finance

personnel

Advocacy manager

COORDINATION STRUCTURE2017

FAIRTRADE FINLAND

FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL

FIELD/PARTNERS

Child protection

Gender

Coffee specialist

Workers rights

advisor

CROSS-CUTTING EXPERTS

STEERING COMMITTEE

PROJECT PERSONNELPROJECT PERSONNEL


MFA funding. Self-financing increased steeply in 2017 reaching 53.2 per cent and con-

sisted of the companies’ license fees in Finland and donations from Fairtrade Germa-

ny and Fairtrade Sweden. Despite the significant match-funding, Fairtrade Finland

did not have any fundraising costs in 2017. In addition to the reported self-finance,

Fairtrade International’s experts worked on the development of the programme’s tools

and in advising the projects’ implementation. This work contribution is not included in

the programme’s financial statements nor in the reported self-financing. See the table

and figures below for the expenditure and finance of the programme in 2017.

Total expenses in the four-year programme period were 2.9 million euros. Govern-

ment grant from MFA was EUR 1,860,000 and Fairtrade Finland sourced slightly over

one million euros additional funding (1,059,900). The Finnish government’s severe

cuts to the development cooperation budg¬et meant a 47 per cent reduction from

the original funding decision for 2016. Although we managed to patch the hole with

additional funding and keep the project’s field budgets at the original levels, the new

funding decision was not entirely without effect. To save the field budgets, we cut

the Helsinki-based costs – which were already exceptionally low – even further. This

especially affected our communication work in Finland. Despite steeply decreased

government funding, the programme’s total funding increased strongly over the pro-

gramme period supported by strong additional funding growing from 18 per cent to

over 53 per cent. Administrational expenses were kept low and their share was con-

stantly decreasing from 10 per cent to 5.6 per cent.

0 %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 %10 %

0100 000200 000300 000400 000500 000600 000700 000800 000900 000

1 000 000

2014 2015 2016 2017

Finance (eur) & Admin %

MFA eur Fairtrade Finland eur Administration %

0 %

10 %

20 %

30 %

40 %

50 %

60 %

70 %

80 %

90 %

100 %

2014 2015 2016 2017

Finance %

MFA eur Fairtrade Finland

55


Programme expenses 2017Budget

(updated Oct 2017)

Incurred% of

Budgeted% of total incurred

A: PROJECT COSTSProducer organizations' capacity

Guatemala 122 231 119 753 98,0 % 12,5 %Honduras 150 587 147 680 98,1 % 15,4 %Nicaragua 120 167 118 516 98,6 % 12,4 %

Peru 30 653 23 416 76,4 % 2,4 %Ethiopia 25 671 15 303 59,6 % 1,6 %

sub total 449 309 424 669 94,5 % 44,4 %Producer Network's capacity

Latin America 110 992 109 132 98,3 % 11,4 %

Programme development pilotsDominican Republic/Fedelac 45 291 441 1,0 % 0,0 %

Dominican Republic/CLAC 61 437 60 233 98,0 % 6,3 %Workers' rights pilot, Africa 315 071 206 973 65,7 % 21,6 %

sub total 421 799 267 647 63,5 % 28,0 %

PROJECT ACTIVITIES, total 982 100 801 448 81,6 % 83,8 %

B: PLANNING, EVALUATION, MONITORING & DEVELOPMENTPlanning & monitoring & evaluation 10 015 9 587 95,7 % 1,0 %

Programme development 15 755 16 009 101,6 % 1,7 %subtotal 25 770 25 596 99,3 % 2,7 %

C: COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACYProgramme Communications 15 000 14 951 99,7 % 1,6 %

Development Communications 60 000 60 210 100,3 % 6,3 %subtotal 75 000 75 161 100,2 % 7,9 %

D: ADMINISTRATION 54 000 53 846 99,7 % 5,6 %TOTAL 1 136 870 956 051 84,1 % 100,0 %

INCOME Budget Incurred

Grant from MFA 447 452 447 452for 2017 380 000 380 000

transferred from 2016 67 452 67 452to be transferred for the next year 0 0

Self-finance 689 418 508 599

TOTAL 1 136 870 956 051

%of total46,8 %

53,2 %

100,0 %

56


The auditor’s assurance and signature, see annex.

Helsinki 29.8.2018

Fairtrade Finland

Janne Sivonen Sari Ignatius

Executive director Finance Manager

ANNEXES:

•Financialstatement2017

•Auditor’sreport2017

•Programmeaudit2017

PLANNING, MONITORING &

DEVELOPMENT; 2,7 %

COMMUNICATIONS; 7,9 %

ADMINISTRATION; 5,6 %

Guatemala; 12,5 %

Honduras ; 15,4 %

Nicaragua ; 12,4 %

Peru; 2,4 %

Ethiopia; 1,6 %

Regional/ LatAm; 11,4 %

DomRep/ Fedelac; 0,0 %

DomRep/ CLAC; 6,3 %

Workers' rights pilot, Africa; 21,6 %

83,8 %PROJECTS

Programme costs 2017

57

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