When Gloria Gamay and her mother Fidelia were asked how long they had been harvesting coffee by hand on a remote mountainside in Ecuador, Fidelia responded, “Always.”
Then Gloria joined FAPECAFES, which is a partner of Working Capital for Community Needs. (FAPECAFES is a community organization in Ecuador that takes profit from selling coffee on the international fair trade market and reinvests it in helping local coffee growers.) Gloria underwent the rigorous application process to have her coffee certified fair trade and organic.
Now Gloria and Fidelia’s hard work is rewarded with a higher price for their coffee. Certified fair trade and organic coffee gets a premium of 30¢ a pound on the fair trade market. To improve people’s lives in ways like this, you can get involved with WCCN.
