Daily CSR
Daily CSR

Daily CSR
Daily news about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability

Nescafé’s Attempt To Inspire Next Gen Coffee Farmers



02/25/2021

Teaching the youth the value and benefits of coffee farming to produce “a new generation” young coffee farmers “fully invested in the farmland of their ancestors”.


Dailycsr.com – 25 February 2021 – Through the “Youth Initiative” of Nescafé, Cesar Ernesto Buezo recently developed “a taste for coffee” as he grew up amid “the cherry plants on his family's farm”. Talking about the initiative, he added:
“The biggest breakthrough for me was the simple act of noticing the cup of coffee that I was producing. Testing it, tasting the different flavors, studying colors and texture… this was all entirely new”.
 
At present fewer than 5% farmers are below thirty-five years of age across the globe whereby creating a “global generational gap” in the coffee farming practices which is widening with time. As a result, Nestlé started an initiative of informing the youth about the “good reasons” of choosing to stay in family coffee farms.
 
Where better to take this initiative than to Honduras, as 65% of its population are under 29 years of age whereby making it one of the places in the world to harbour “youngest population. Nescafé, therefore, launched its “Youth Initiative” in Honduras in June 2019, while the government and the “Nestlé Needs YOUth project” also became part of the same with the aim of inspiring the “younger generations” to join in the “coffee-growing communities”.
 
Cesar, one such youth, received the invitation to participate in the Youth Initiative, while he was pursuing agroforestry in high school. He explained:
“Ever since I was young, I used to dream of who I would become and the goals I might reach ere in Comayagua I knew that coffee was my future”.
 
The students thus undergo eighty hours of training programme through “different modules” that talks about “coffee knowledge and entrepreneurship over a series of sixth months”. Moreover, the initiative also offers a hands-on approach to coffee cultivation and harvest through “an on-site plant nursery and a solar drier”. The students learn about “coffee properties, extraction methods, roasting, grinding and cup tasting” in this programme.
 
Cesar recounted:
“One of our best modules was about motivation and perseverance. That really resonated, because we were all balancing the stresses of home and school. We had excellent talks about leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship. It was incredible to feel the support of people who did not ask for anything in return.”
“Most of us come from coffee producing families, but the challenge is that we inherit land along with other grandchildren, children and cousins. We lack theoretical and practical training when it comes to farm management. We let older people worry about it, and production has declined. Coffee is something that many young people see as obsolete. Thanks to the program, I have a different vision of what I want for my farm.”
 
 
References:
3blmedia.com