Ethos Agriculture

Just back from a bustling week immersed in discussions on coffee sustainability, with those who grow, roast, brew and perhaps drink a bit too much coffee. Conversations with farmers, traders, and academics delved into pressing issues such as living incomes, fair wages, and the critical issue how to actually redistribute value in the chain while challenging the dynamics of neoliberal economics. It's encouraging to receive such positive feedback on our latest initiative to launch VOCAL (Voice of Organizations in Coffee Alliance), which aims to coordinate coffee lobby and advocacy efforts within a cohesive network. Although we are not currently engaged in drafting a new Coffee Barometer, we're gearing up to release a paper on behalf of VOCAL later in Q3 that aims to enrich ongoing discussions about mandatory due diligence requirements. Keep an eye out for updates! #rethinkcoffee Frederik de Vries Eric Rukwaya Antonie Fountain Vera Espíndola Rafael Juan Pablo Solís Víquez Niels Haak Gilbert Gatali Jorge Paez Izquierdo Karl Wienhold Miguel Zamora Reena Eddiks Andrea Olivar Vanusia Nogueira Annette Pensel Martina Bozzola Hannelore Beerlandt Katherine Oglietti

Just back from a bustling week immersed in discussions on coffee sustainability, with those who grow, roast, brew and perhaps drink a bit too much coffee. Conversations with farmers, traders, and academics delved into pressing issues such as living incomes, fair wages, and the critical issue how to actually redistribute value in the chain while challenging the dynamics of neoliberal economics. It's encouraging to receive such positive feedback on our latest initiative to launch VOCAL (Voice of Organizations in Coffee Alliance), which aims to coordinate coffee lobby and advocacy efforts within a cohesive network. Although we are not currently engaged in drafting a new Coffee Barometer, we're gearing up to release a paper on behalf of VOCAL later in Q3 that aims to enrich ongoing discussions about mandatory due diligence requirements. Keep an eye out for updates! #rethinkcoffee Frederik de Vries Eric Rukwaya Antonie Fountain Vera Espíndola Rafael Juan Pablo Solís Víquez Niels Haak Gilbert Gatali Jorge Paez Izquierdo Karl Wienhold Miguel Zamora Reena Eddiks Andrea Olivar Vanusia Nogueira Annette Pensel Martina Bozzola Hannelore Beerlandt Katherine Oglietti

What a great way to kick off the World of Coffee Copenhagen week with the Xover by This Side Up Coffees, where Lennart Clerkx, Maarten van Keulen , and the rest of the amazing TSU team invited us to contemplate what the coffee sector could look like if we approached it based on trust rather than fear. Approaching the sector from a foundation of trust would require significant changes in how we interact with every part of the supply chain. It would involve honest marketing, transparent sourcing, and long-term relationships across the sector based on mutual respect and shared values, rather than exploiting imbalances in power. It would require a commitment to transparency and, above all, complete honesty—to our partners and to ourselves. To us, this seems like a great invitation to bring with us throughout these three days together in Copenhagen. We hope this inspires your conversations, meetings, and lectures, leading to a coffee sector built on trust—one that excites us all about its future. #rethinkcoffee Eric Rukwaya Wakuli Meine van der Graaf Yorick Bruins Isabel van Bemmelen Stephie Mendelsohn Gilbert Gatali Karl Wienhold Coffee Circle Slow Food Emanuele Dughera

While most of us agree that improved alignment and collaboration among civil society is key to progressing towards a more inclusive and sustainable coffee sector, the "how" and "in what modality" are not always obvious. After many conversations and meetings with stakeholders across the sector, we are now making significant progress in developing this vision and associated structure to deliver on this ambition. Although everything is still very much in motion and we are just getting started, it is incredibly exciting to be part of this journey. We are extremely appreciative of the great input, trust, and commitment from all the organizations listed below (and many others), and for the inspiring dedication, friendship, and drive of Antonie Fountain throughout this process. Feel free to reach out to us or Antonie with any question you might have. To be continued!

True sustainability is a collective journey. It thrives on the web of relationships we create and nurture with nature, communities, producers and companies. To us, friendship and exchange are fundamental pillars of this journey. As such, we are excited to engage, listen, learn and contribute in the upcoming (coffee) week where Sjoerd Panhuysen, Eric Rukwaya and Frederik de Vries will be participating in various events. You will find us at the Global Coffee Platform Membership Assembly and the IDH Living Wage & Income Summit in Amsterdam, or at the Xover powered by This Side Up Coffees and the World of Coffee in Copenhagen. Throughout the week we aim to represent the cooperatives we work with linked to the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) Coffee Program in East Africa, join and facilitate meetings with our friends from Anei Coffee, present at the WoC on Saturday (Coffee Sustainability Initiatives Map: Insights for Collective Action), further explore the need and opportunity for improved CSO collaboration, and catch up with many of our coffee friends. We hope to see you in Amsterdam or Copenhagen and further exchange, dream, and create together. #rethinkcoffee #celebratesustainability #ethos

Such an inspiring partnership with Progreso Foundation - this week focused on the essentials of Price Risk Management, working with different Rwandan cooperatives. After this 2-day intensive training, through Eric Rukwaya, we will be checking in with each cooperative every month and throughout the coffee season to ensure they feel equipped to integrate everything they learned when it matters most. We are excited to join them on this journey and assist them along the way! Thank you Progreso Foundation for all the support and especially a big thanks to all the eager and talented cooperative leaders for your commitment and excitement during the training! Much more to come!

As Ethos we recognise the importance and huge opportunity of coffee conferences like the worldofcoffee.org in Copenhagen later this month. However, we also realise that participating in such conferences is very expensive.   To make the investment worthwhile, it is crucial to be well-prepared and understand how to maximise your conference experience. Therefore, we developed a Playbook on “How to navigate a Coffee Conference”. This booklet helps producer organisations and other stakeholders to play the conference game to the best of their ability, providing practical tips on preparation, what to bring, how to show yourself, how to interact, and follow up. 📙 Download the Playbook here: https://lnkd.in/e6zKBzqS Last week African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) invited Eric Rukwaya (Ethos Agriculture) to share some of our key tips and tricks during a webinar for cooperatives planning to attend the event in Copenhagen. Check out the webinar via: https://lnkd.in/eix7bya8 We hope this is helpful for you or any of your partners. Feel free to download a copy of our Conference Playbook via the link above or forward the resources with anyone that you feel might benefit from these insights and tips. Hope to see you all in Denmark! Special thanks for the great and inspiring contributions from Adolph Sakawa from ADC Tanzania and Jane Kafura from Nyamirima, Uganda and for the invitation and facilitation by Alison Streacker and Gilbert Gatali. #rethinkcoffee #WoC #sustainablecoffee #SCA

We look forward to sharing some practical tips and tricks on how to get most (joy) out of your conference experience during the World of Coffee - inspired by the power of relationships and enthusiasm for coffee! As we recognise that attending any conference is expensive and requires time away from your family and work, we believe it is essential to make optimal preparations to maximize the benefits of your participation. Therefore, we developed the Ethos Conference Playbook - how to navigate a coffee conference. Eric Rukwaya will present and talk about this booklet, how it might help you and our experiences, together with Adolph Sakawa working with ADC Tanzania and Jane Kafura from Nyamirima Cooperative, our friends from Uganda. Thank you for the invitation and opportunity African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) - it is always a great pleasure and great fun to work together. See details and registration link below - see you on the 30th! #rethinkcoffee #celebrate #eastafrica

One distinctive aspect of coffee cupping is the loud slurping noise made when tasting the coffee. This slurping action helps aerate the coffee and spread it across the palate to fully experience its flavors. In partnership with Ethos Agriculture, our U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) grantees have a chance to participate in Cupping sessions, not only to taste their coffee but also to elevate their palate game😁

We just returned from a successful and very inspiring trip to the Specialty Coffee Association in Chicago. We started the week visiting our partner U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) in Washington DC where we outlined the next phase of our East Africa Coffee Program. The SCA conference then allowed us to further explore collaboration and strategic partnerships. It gave us the chance to connect with many of our coffee friends and partners, exploring collaboration and jointly rethink coffee sustainability. After three days of meetings and various events, our friends from Anei Coffee invited us to join them in a beautiful ceremony, marking the conclusion of our time together at the conference. As we walked along the waterfront of Lake Michigan, they presented us with two small pieces of cotton. Carefully produced by farmers in the Sierra Nevada, these pieces were intended to foster a connection with nature and prompt reflection on our collective efforts, as well as our hopes and intentions for the future.   Sitting on the shore of the lake, we expressed gratitude to the ancestors of the lake and the region that graciously hosted us during these days. We shared words of appreciation, acknowledging coffee as opportunity bringing us together.   While a brief post may not fully convey the extent and significance of such a ceremony, it hopefully serves as an invitation to reflect on one's current position and aspirations for the future. For us, concluding the conference with this ceremony served as a reminder of the opportunities we have to contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive sector, and consequently, the responsibility to do so. We aim to have a similar closing ceremony with ANEI during our time together in Copenhagen at the World of Coffee; stay connected if you want to join us!   #rethinkcoffee #celebratecoffee #SCA #coffeesustainability #coffee #grattitude Coffee Quality Institute Beyco Fairtrade International Rainforest Alliance International Trade Centre Acorn 1000 Landscapes For 1 Billion People Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA)