What surveying and field research are all about. By: Josh Schellenberg

Now that I am back in the café in touristy Antigua where Jerlin, Seth, Victoria and I planned our field research strategy, it has finally hit me that the experience has ended. If you had told the Josh at those meetings just how much things would not go according to plan, he would have been disappointed. No random sample. No 300-400 observations. No statistical representation of the average coffee grower in Huehuetenango. No interesting variation in technology adoption revealed.

I am not disappointed at all though. Compared to the eye-opening conversations with the coffee growers we surveyed, the conversations at those meetings now seem like empty jargon. In the end, field research is not about the conclusions, the quality of the results, impressing your colleagues or publishing a paper.

It’s about the coffee grower who sat with me talking about rural development for two hours after the survey had ended. He told me about walking four hours to and from a village in the mountains to deliver loans while he was working for a microfinance organization. Though he did not have much and his wife had passed away at a young age, he seemed inspired by his work and basic education. His kids seemed inspired too as they listened carefully to their father’s wise words and stories of his triumphs.

Field research is about the funny moments as well. For example, Jerlin asked one grower how many kids he had and he exclaimed, “Saber!” For those of you who have never been here, this is a Guatemalan expression for “Who knows!” Another guy could not stop talking about his craving for Chinese food from his favorite restaurant in South Carolina, where he had lived for two years. “He came back from the United States a little bit fatter,” his wife teased.

Let’s not forget all the frustrating moments also. One guy told me that he just had to run an errand and that I could come back to survey him in 30 minutes. Later I saw him drive by while I was walking back to his house. “Great!” I thought. “He is driving home to do the survey.” Actually, he stopped at another house and went inside with his whole family. When I checked three hours later, the car was still there. We learned quickly that this kind of behavior is common in Guatemala because they feel uncomfortable by just saying, “No, I do not want to/have time to do the survey.”

These are only a few of the hundreds of interactions with Guatemalans that make up what I would like to think is an accurate representation of the country and its people. I was telling an English tourist in Antigua about our experience and he told me, “I want to see the real Guatemala. Do you think I could go up to Huehuetenango for a few days and hang out with the people I would never see on the tourist track?” After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that it was not possible in just a few days because the ‘real’ Guatemala lies in secluded areas that are only accessible by a 4 x 4 with a skilled driver and a local guide. Even then you can only really get to know the people when you spend time and try to work with them. In the end, this surveying experience offered us something we would have never been able to witness as a tourist.

Josh Schellenberg

If you have any field research stories to share, please post them here. We do not want to forget what it's all about.

Fair Trade impact evaluated – blogger style! By: Josh Schellenberg

One month ago, Jerlin, Victoria, Seth and I arrived in Guatemala, eager to find a solution to the problems that face its poor coffee growers. We were excited to throw the politics aside and get to the fundamental economic issues. For months we had absorbed conflicting arguments from various publications, documentaries and key informants. It seemed like every scholar, government, humanitarian organization and multinational corporation had an opinion on the problems of the highly politicized international coffee market.

At a San Francisco Public Library screening of PBS documentary “Black Gold” in April, Fair Trade proponents conveniently packaged the solution for all the poor coffee growers worldwide into three small words. “Trade not aid,” an Oxfam representative repeatedly told the audience. By buying Fair Trade certified products, people can use their consumption choices to ensure that poor coffee growers receive a “fair price.” This price would supposedly ensure that they can live comfortably and keep their children in school.

As expected, the demon of the documentary and talk afterwards was Starbucks. One scene showed a Starbucks funded clinic in Kenya turning away a mother and her sick baby because he weighed too much and they needed to make room for babies that were more malnourished. The film suggests that aid to a few people does not make up for the “exploitation” of the entire community by paying such low prices for its coffee.

The talk afterwards was a classic San Francisco moment. Ex-hippies and affluent Bay Area mothers proudly declared their alliance to Fair Trade and organic products while sprinkling in the usual anti-Starbucks/Monsanto commentary. They were convinced that they were doing significantly more good than the average American simply by changing consumption habits. It reminded me of the Evangelist Christians that try to prove that you are a bad person because you do not live life the way they do.

After visiting the most important coffee organizations in the capital during our first three weeks in Guatemala, we realized that the Fair Trade vs. Starbucks debate is not as important as it seems. The National Association of Coffee (ANACAFE) and the country’s largest federation of coffee cooperatives (FEDECOCAGUA) were not talking about Fair Trade and Starbucks too much because they only represent a small portion of world coffee sales (less than 1% for Fair Trade and 2 to 3% for Starbucks). On the other hand, what is significant for these organizations is meeting the demand for unique specialty coffee that pleases the pallets of European and Japanese consumers. FEDECOCAGUA sells 80% to Europe and 15% to Japan. At ANACAFE, the cupping masters are able to taste a coffee and identify the country in which it will be most popular. For Guatemalan coffee growers large and small, quality is their comparative advantage and way to get a better price.

“A fair price is when a grower receives what he deserves for the quality of coffee he produces,” Jorge Villatoro of Kaffa coffee processing in Huehuetenango told us a few days ago. “The problem with cooperatives [and Fair Trade] is that they take the production from all of their members and mix it together. Therefore, the producer of higher quality coffee receives less than he deserves.” With its microclimates and variation in soils, Huehuetenango produces a wide variety of coffee qualities and flavors. Many of which only make it to the consumer in the form of a common blend because the transaction cost of taste testing and sorting each small producer’s harvest is too high.

Fortunately, Starbucks is willing to take on that cost to deliver a consistent, high quality cup of coffee to the consumer. In addition, it actually has to offer a higher price because it needs a constant supply of the best coffee and must coordinate with growers through its “Cafe Practices” certification. Basically, Starbucks depends on the growers more than the growers depend on Starbucks. The consumer wants to go to that café and know exactly what he is going to get for his money. Without rewarding growers for their consistent supply of quality coffee by offering a fair price, Starbucks would not be as successful as it is today.

Even with a fair price through Fair Trade or Starbucks, the additional income may not make that much of a difference for the poorest growers. To deal with risk, poor coffee growers in Guatemala divide their land into many other crops like corn and beans. Considering their off farm earnings as well, coffee is usually just a small portion of their meager income.

At a Fair Trade talk in Antigua two weeks ago, two indigenous women told the audience about their struggle to start a cooperative and get a fair price for their jams and dried fruit. After years of work and international help, they were able to place their products in a few supermarkets and bakeries in Guatemala. There is no doubt that this was an empowering experience that they will hopefully pass on to their children. But when an audience member asked how the business impacted their household income, one of the women answered, “It adds a little bit to my husband’s income.” And that is only when the cooperative is producing. The other woman agreed.

From what I have gathered here in Guatemala, it is not possible to make much of an impact by buying Fair Trade products. So if you prefer a cup of Fair Trade coffee, do not parade around like you are solving the world’s problems through your consumer choices. Do not forget about the thousands of dollars that the Fair Trade labeling organizations have to spend in order to regulate the mechanism and market their products. And when you pick up that cup of hot, aromatic, caffeine loaded, invariably delicious and high quality Starbucks coffee, do not feel guilty because a coffee grower in the developing world is being rewarded for producing an above average product. Nonetheless, in both cases we are only talking about a small portion of worldwide coffee consumption. No one clarified this point better than Don Octavio Perez, who in addition to producing 4,000 pounds of coffee per year, transports fertilizer and the harvests of other growers in Huehuetenango. “I work for this company that is called, umm… Starbucks. Do you know them?”

Josh Schellenberg

ANACAFE - where the coffee flows like wine. By: Josh Schellenberg

After only one week in Guatemala, my dream had been fulfilled. It all started when we went to meet with some key informants at the National Association of Coffee (ANACAFE) in Guatemala City on Wednesday. While Jerlin and Victoria were talking with the coordinator of social services for coffee growers, Seth and I waited outside in the 3rd floor lobby. We were surprised to witness the smoke and scent of roasted coffee rising up from the bottom floor. They certainly weren't roasting and exporting coffee out of their headquarters in the most pristine part of the city, were they?

As the girls’ meeting carried on, my curiosity and restless legs overcame me. I decided to investigate. Upon walking around the corner and looking downstairs, something caught my eye. A room with large canvas sacks strewn about… round tables with cups lined around the edge… two people attentively writing on clip boards – it must be a cupping lab! What I thought would take us many weeks and good connections to find, was right in front of our eyes.

After Jerlin and Victoria were done talking, we went downstairs to see if we could check it out. A friendly smile and hand gesture from Jerlin got us through the door. “Es como vino, es como vino,” (“It’s like wine”) Master Cupper Eduardo Ambrocio emphasized from the beginning of his discourse. Drawing from his 15 years of experience in the cupping lab, he explained how coffee has developed from a homogeneous commodity into a highly differentiated product. Like in the wine industry, specific flavor characteristics and geographic origin are becoming increasingly important to knowledgeable consumers.

This trend is especially beneficial to Guatemalan coffee growers because they have the appropriate climate and high enough altitude to grow some of the best quality coffee in the world. However, before the coffee is sold, it has to get past the increasingly discriminating taste buds of Senor Ambrocio and his fellow taste testers. “Each row of cups that you see here comes from the harvest of a particular producer. If we spot a defect in any one of these cups, we reject the entire harvest and send it back to the producer.”

Josh Schellenberg

Finally settled in the "land of eternal spring". By: Josh Schellenberg

The coffee research team - Seth, Jerlin, Victoria and I - has finally made it to Guatemala. After considering research projects in Mexico, Chile, India and many other countries, I have made it to my final destination. Thinking of the stories of former students that did their summer proejcts in much hotter and more humid countries, we are glad to be 1600 meters above sea level in this "land of eternal spring." Our nightly meetings flow just as easily as the cool breeze through the cafe's open doors and windows.

Currently we are living in a quaint apartment in Antigua, a small city just outside of the capital. We are trying not to let the peacefulness of this popular tourist destination blind us from the poverty and inequality that plagues the rest of the country. That said, it is nice to have internet cafes and convenience stores on every block.

The picture is the view from my room of one of the many volcanoes surrounding the city. We hope to climb the highest of those volcanoes if we get the chance. It's quite a journey because you have to stay overnight at the top. But hey, if we're going to climb one of the volcanoes, we might as well climb the highest one, right? Jerlin and Victoria are especially unintimidated by the seven hour hike to the peak. "I'll be tired and I'll be complaining, but I'll make it," says Jerlin. Whether we make it or not, it will undoubtedly be a team building experience.

Other than meeting with various organizations and further developing our research strategy, we also plan to take a tour of one of the coffee plantations while in Antigua. This tour introduces you to the entire coffee growing and marketing process, including the famous cupping labs where taste testers vigorously slurp the coffee in order to grade each batch. If you haven't seen this before, visit http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/guatemala.mexico/. I think it's the second part of the video shows a cupping lab.

Josh Schellenberg

Why do/don't you buy organic products? By: Josh Schellenberg

This is interesting to find out before I go because I want to see if when people buy organic products, they are getting what they pay for.

I don't buy organic products because I don't think conventional products harm my health and I don't really notice a difference in taste. Perhaps this summer will convince me of the environmental benefits, but I suspect that conventional farms can be just as "sustainable" as organic ones.

Josh Schellenberg