Rural communities that are dependent on cash crops – like coffee – often face challenges that begin at the farm and extend beyond. Starbucks contributes resources to strengthen coffee-growing communities through our community investments programs, and through social investments funded in some of our coffee contracts. We also invest in programs in communities that grow our cocoa and tea.
What we've been doing.
Starbucks invests in coffee communities by working collaboratively with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These organizations have the specialized experience and expertise to work with farming communities, improving their ability to bring high-quality coffee to market, and providing access to education and health care that helps improve their overall quality of life.
Our work with NGO partners:
African Wildlife Foundation
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is one focal point of our coffee community investments in Kenya. The three-year project helps improve coffee quality and promote responsible growing practices while helping preserve the wildlife and wild lands of Africa. Learn more.
Conservation International
Conservation International (CI) and Starbucks are working to tackle climate change by working with farmers to help protect forests and restore degraded landscapes, and by raising consumer awareness about climate issues. Learn more about CI and Starbucks.
CARE
Our partnership with CARE is dedicated to improving economic and educational opportunities for families in the rural coffee-growing region of West Hararghe, Ethiopia. In fiscal 2008, The Starbucks Foundation made a gift of $68,000. Starbucks partners (employees) in our Europe, Middle East and Africa region have taken this effort to heart, raising additional money to support this initiative.
Save the Children
A quality education for Mayan children in Guatemala can be difficult to find – often because school is taught in Spanish instead of their native Mayan language. In fiscal 2005, Starbucks launched the Guatemala Education Initiative, a four-year, $1.5 million effort with Save the Children to bring bilingual education programs to remote, coffee-growing Mayan villages. In fiscal 2008, Starbucks helped more than 9,000 young people and 26 schools.
This program goes beyond our corporate giving – Starbucks partners have also raised money and volunteered their time to help. In September 2008, 15 Starbucks store managers traveled to Guatemala to help. To read about their trip, visit their blog.
Coffee Kids
Since 2000, Starbucks has given $200,000 to Coffee Kids, including $25,000 in fiscal 2008. Coffee Kids helps coffee-farming families improve the quality of their lives. Coffee Kids is a nonprofit that works with local organizations in Latin America to create education, health care, micro-credit and community-based programs for coffee farmers and their families. For more information, visit their website
Hurdles.
We want to help improve the overall quality of life in the farming communities that grow coffee, tea and cocoa for Starbucks. The wide range of needs found in these communities can make it challenging to determine which investments will make the most significant impact. This dynamic and the nature of communities can also make measuring the short- and long-term impacts of our efforts difficult.
What we're working on.
We will continue to support the people and places where our coffee is grown and work closely with the organizations with expertise in managing programs in these communities.
