Gerardo Arias Camacho, coffee producer.
Costa Rica

Gerando Arias Camacho together with his wife and 3 children grow coffee for the co partnership of Llano Bonito, in San Hose, Costa Rica. Gerando Arias is a member of the co partnership’s committee which works closely with the Fair Trade consortium COOCAFE. He explains how Fair Trade has changed his and his children’s life and the life in the village.

“During the 80’s, the price of coffee showed a significant drop and, as a result, the production costs could not be covered. Many farmers had to abandon their land and immigrate to the cities in search of a job, while some of them even left the country. In the mid 90’s, I decided to leave the country myself to go the US wishing to make some money in order to support my family. Eight years later, I had already earned enough in order to buy the land my parents were cultivating, so they could stop working. Nevertheless, the price of coffee remained remarkably lo, so I had to go back to the US for another two yeas. Due to the price instability in the coffee market, there was no school, nor roads or bridges in the village.

Now that our co partnership is Fair Trade certified, selling prices are stable and we get a guaranteed down payment. The money we earn is spent on education, environment protection , infrastructure and the refurbishment of our old processing station. Moreover, we offer scholarships to our children, so they can continue going to school.

I do believe that without Fair Trade our co partnership would have closed its doors. The Fair Trade institution does not simply involve ethical trade operations. When there is a decrease in coffee price, farmers have to increase their production so prices drop even more. Fair Trade represents the way trading should be: fair, liable and sustainable.

My eldest son goes to the university. My ten year-old son has already been in school as many years as I have attended school in total and my little princess is in the second grade.

With the help of Fair Trade all of my children will go to the university and they will not have to trespass the borders of Mexico to enter the US, as I had to. They can decide what they want to do with their lives. I say to them: “You have two choices. You can either become coffee producers or learn to do something different. But before all, you must learn how to grow coffee, as your father and grandfather did.”

Since the moment we became Fair Trade certified, we cultivate ecologically. We produce our coffee beans sustainably. Within 10 years, we have planted trees and reduced the amount of pesticides used per 80%. In the old days, we used to cut down 20 hectares of forest per year to burn them at the processing station. Now we own a new stove, burning dung and leftovers such as coffee bean shells and macadamia nuts which we buy from farmers all over Costa Rica. This way we all merit.

Fair trade is not a closed system. Fair trade is open to everyone. Still, we need an ever growing number of people buying Fair Trade certified products in order for our market to grow and even more farmers to be able to receive a certification. We teach producers who are with us the mechanisms of the market, so they can demand competitive prices from the buyers. As an addition to that, the benefits of the Fair Trade certification are evident throughout the whole community: when a typhoon passed, blocking a road and destroying a bridge in the village, we had enough money for repairing.

So, when you go shopping, look for the Fair Trade labeling. This way you know for sure that your money goes straight to the producer. This is helpful not only to us, but also to the producers throughout the world since the protection of the environment is beneficial to everyone. This way we help each other.

As a Fair Trade producer, I feel competitive at last and I feel that the utensil is in my own hands. I do have the necessary knowledge allowing me to defend myself and my people. I feel that there is a future for us, since we can stay in our country and really make a life there by growing our coffee.

Fair Trade is not philanthropy. Only with your purchase you can make a difference.