Help Fight Poverty: Buy Fairtrade Organic Coffee

Drinking fairtrade organic coffee is one of the best ways to contribute to poverty alleviation all over the world. Fairtrade organic coffee is produced by small farmers in many developing countries all over the world. Most of these farmers are what we call "subsistence" farmers who get barely enough income to feed and clothe their families.

Several of these small coffee farmers live in hinterland areas where development is very slow and life is often very hard. Since farming is the only way of life that most of these people knew, most members of the family work in the family's coffee farm tending to trees and handpicking coffee beans off the tress from sunrise to sunset.

What is Fairtrade Organic Coffee?

Small coffee farmers often find it very hand to compete with those giant coffee producers. To help these small farmers to compete with bigger and more powerful coffee farmers, international development organizations such Amnesty International, The United Nations, Caritas International and others organized these small farmers into groups and educate them on fair trade strategies.

The idea here is to unite the small coffee farmers and empower them to play a wider influence in the coffee industry. As a result of these efforts made by many international development organizations, the fairtrade organic coffee industry was born. Small farmers from different parts of the world pool their harvest together and sell their produce at a fair price.

Why Does Fairtrade Organic Coffee Cost Higher Than Most Types of Coffee?

Fairtrade organic coffee is a premium product which is produced without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The farmers who are producing fairtrade organic coffee products follow strict rules and regulations when it comes to using organic fertilizer in their farms. Since organic products are more difficult to produce, it is but natural that they should cost more compared to conventionally produced products.

Moreover, since fairtrade organic coffee comes from several small farms from all over the world, it is but fitting that we pay more money for this product to help these small farmers survive. Just come to think of it, every time you buy fairtrade organic coffee, you are able to help some needy coffee farmer in the mountains to support his or her family. When you drink fairtrade coffee, you put food of the table of some needy farmer. Isn't that a good enough reason to shell out a few extra dollars for a bag of coffee beans?