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Coffee farmers in Central America have been hit hard in recent years by the effects of climate change and price volatility. With their incomes dwindling, they are turning to other resources, especially raising cattle and growing crops for subsistence. The problem is that these alternatives are not sustainable either for their livelihoods or for the environment. It is important.
Nicaraguan farmer
mailing castillo
Five years ago, Jefferson Shriver doselva, a Nicaragua-U.S. social enterprise that aims to address this issue in a big way. A coffee enthusiast with years of experience in an NGO working with smallholder farmers, Shriver’s company provides turkey solutions for coffee farmers in Central America. Specifically, not only has he helped sell botanical ingredients for spices to the food industry, but he has also established a new sustainable supply chain system for processing and exporting those ingredients.
“It was a big problem and we had to come up with a big solution,” says Shriver.
Crop diversification
Shriver first learned about the growing potential of spice ingredients while working with smallholder farmers. He observed that coffee farmers in Madagascar, Uganda and elsewhere have successfully supplemented their income by growing more profitable crops such as vanilla and cinnamon.
A coffee farmer in Nicaragua since 2006, Shriver decided in 2012 to diversify into growing turmeric, ginger and cardamom. He started with vanilla, which is native to the region. “I fell in love with vanilla,” he says. This is because the flowers must be pollinated by hand. In addition, they are highly susceptible to disease. Schreiber added turmeric, ginger and cardamom.
In the process of diversifying himself, Schreiber began to think about the challenges smallholder coffee farmers face and what can be done about them. “I have found that the private sector is more effective in creating lasting solutions to some of the great problems of our time, such as environmental destruction and rural poverty, with a focus on coffee farmers. In 2017, he founded Doselva.
anchor
The company acts as what Schreiber calls an “anchor,” buying, processing and exporting crops such as vanilla, turmeric, ginger and cardamom. However, we offer farmers a full range of services, from technical assistance and transportation to assistance with the food safety and environmental certifications required to sell to premium markets. It also provides farmers with organic fertilizer seeds and repellents to improve yields.
Nicaraguan farmer
mailing castillo
Annual contracts with farmers are set at the beginning of the season. The company buys all the spice crops that the farmers produce. They typically work on about 3-5 acres of land. “This level of production allows us to buy whole crops,” he says Shriver. Contracts include certification, price ranges to be paid to farmers, and inputs such as organic fertilizers.
Farmers generally continue to grow coffee, with slightly less than before. Harvesting of various spices occurs after the coffee season is over, so new crops not only provide more money, but also , it also serves as an income cushion during what used to be downtime.
customers and growth
The company primarily sells to supermarkets, as well as companies in nutraceuticals, beverages and table spices. About 40% of sales are from his EU customers and 60% from US customers.
About 300 farmers are currently participating. But Shriver expects he’ll more than triple by 2025. He also employs about 100 people at the company’s 15,000-square-foot processing plant on about five acres in Grenada. (Doselva has a lease and purchase agreement and Shriver will own the facility later this year). According to Shriver, up to 5,000 more people a year will be affected by his new supply chain his system. “We’re creating an industry,” he says Shriver. “Spice is the driving force behind creating employment and income opportunities, with ripple effects beyond the farmers directly involved in the supply chain.” Farmers are more vulnerable than coffee to the effects of extreme weather. He says he was able to triple or quadruple his income using resilient crops.
The company also launched a cardamom- and allspice-focused program in Honduras. We hope to open up more opportunities for people.
Instruction at the Mirror Center
In 2019 Shriver joined the accelerator program. Miller Social Entrepreneurship Center, he worked with his mentor. Then, when the pandemic hit, his mentor extended his mentorship for another year. During that time, they also helped his Shriver register as his Public Benefit Corp. and set up a US-based holding company. Through the Miller Center’s Truss Fund, Shriver received a loan of $150,000, provided much-needed working capital to purchase new equipment, and received more guidance focused on investment readiness.
That money also served as catalytic capital, helping Shriver raise more equity and debt from other investors. “If an entrepreneur needs funding and other institutional investors are hesitant, we invest first, giving a signal to the rest of the ecosystem that we place our trust in this entrepreneur. You can,” says Alexander Pang, Director of Impact Investing at The Mirror Center.