As this year winds to a close, we take the time to be grateful for our blessings. But JNP Coffee is truly thankful year-round for our relationships with you, our customers and supporters of the work we do to empower women coffee farmers in our native Burundi. The double impact of our efforts is bearing fruit.
Seeds planted in the past are flowering into wonderful new developments. The group whose premium payment savings self-financed a washing station in Ngozi Province has now completed that facility. This first women-owned wet mill will enable greater self-sufficiency for an entire community. But construction at the site hasn’t stopped, as now they are adding a storage building to their site (see photos below).
The stories are multiplying that demonstrate the impact of training and rewarding farmers for their excellent coffee. I hear from some customers how excited they are about this progress and the ways purchasing green coffee can radically change the nature of a coffee-growing community.
The combination of financial literacy and agricultural education with premium payments has created an invaluable double impact. I have been sharing these stories across the United States this autumn, with roasters and baristas at the New York Coffee Festival, with students learning about new entrepreneurial approaches at the University of Connecticut, and with coffee lovers in Austin, Texas and Brooklyn, New York.
I look forward to meeting more of you in the New Year, sending samples, cupping together, and sharing more stories. Get in touch by phone or email at info@jnpcoffee.com.