In an effort to create more equality from farm to cup, these coffee shops and roasteries are putting farmers at the forefront of their work.
BY JODEE FOK
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Photos by Ariel Ngan
Often dubbed the artistic capital of Thailand, Chiang Mai is renowned for its countless bustling artisan and handicraft markets. But scattered around the city is also a vast array of coffee shops offering uniquely homegrown specialty coffee. Upon walking thousands of steps around the old city (visiting all the must-see temples!), I felt a desperate need to get caffeinated and dragged my friend to a local coffee shop close by, Akha Ama Coffee. Stepping through the door, we were instantly greeted by bright sunlight pouring in, the lively chatter of dozens of coffee drinkers, and, of course, the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
To feed my coffee addiction, I couldn’t wait to go through their pourover offerings and order a Sunda Gesha without much hesitation. The initial sip of it awakened my taste buds—I was surprised by its balance of sweetness, acidity, and body with hints like stone fruit. This piqued my curiosity about its origin story. I learned that the coffee was cultivated by a farmer named Ader in a small Chiang Rai village, Maejantai—and my first instinct was to Google Ader.
Ader is among the many smallholder coffee farmers supported by Akha Ama, a social enterprise coffee roastery and shop established by her elder brother, Lee Ayu Chuepa, in 2010. Having witnessed the innumerable financial and social hardships smallholder coffee-farming families faced when growing up in the Akha hill tribe, Lee was determined to make a difference through Akha Ama. “The philosophy for Akha Ama isn’t from myself alone; it’s from the community,” says Lee in a Thailand NOW interview.
Akha Ama is quintessentially an advocate for direct trade, sourcing coffee beans directly and only from Lee’s village and other indigenous communities. This model bypasses traditional middlemen and fosters a direct and steady relationship between coffee growers and buyers, retaining more value for the former while mitigating trading uncertainties for both. In addition, the social enterprise trains farmers in agroforestry coffee cultivation—an alternative to monoculture farming—that intercrops coffee plants with shade trees. Hundreds of families have reaped the ecological benefits of this technique, such as improved biodiversity and soil health.
Akha Ama is just one example of impact businesses emerging across the Global South that help coffee farmers, especially smallholders, break the cycle of poverty and unlock growth opportunities, not least in the face of rapid climate change—with adverse effects such as rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall that pose a threat to coffee production stability. Available data has shown that smallholder farmers constitute 60% of global coffee production, and yet, an estimated 5.5 million of them are living below the poverty line. Attributable to widespread poverty among these farmers could be the unequal revenue distribution in the global coffee value chain: Only around 10% of retail price ends up in farmers’ hands, and a sizable portion goes toward roasters and retailers.
Beyond ensuring a fairer price for coffee farmers, purpose-driven businesses are stepping in to upskill and reskill them as well as transform the local value chain for good. One such instance is Spring Valley Coffee, a certified Kenyan B Corporation currently owned by Ritesh Doshi, who recalled in an STVP interview a troubling realization several weeks before he decided to acquire the business: “A $18 bag of coffee sold in the United States, only $2 makes it back to a farmer in Kenya.”
Tormented by this disparity, he aspires to yield better returns for local farmers by addressing the long-standing conundrum that coffee sold in and from Kenya is predominantly green beans, which significantly hinders the potential for domestic coffee market growth.
In realizing its vision of “grown in Kenya, roasted in Kenya, available to the world,” Spring Valley Coffee drives local value addition and offers farmers better prices for their crops. Bolstering the home market—as Spring Valley has opened multiple branches across Kenya—also helps farmers navigate the volatility of green bean prices on the global market.
The list of examples of impactful enterprises goes on: Guatemala’s Buena Tierra acts as an intermediary that connects farmers with both local and overseas buyers, contributing to a 67% increase in their coffee prices; Vietnam’s Detech Coffee enhances coffee farming, production, and processing capacities among ethnic minorities, with its Rainforest Alliance training program benefitting 500 smallholder farmers in Son La.
The strides these impact businesses have made to positively impact the lives of thousands of coffee farmers can’t be emphasized enough. With evolving challenges such as the foreseeably increasing regulatory requirements imposed by the EU Deforestation Regulation, it’s time for us—whether casual coffee drinkers or dedicated aficionados—to strengthen support for these businesses in the hope of uplifting coffee-growing communities.
Jodee Fok is a social policy writer and researcher by day, and an art and coffee enthusiast all the time. She is a curious learner with a passion for social causes such as sustainability and farmers’ welfare. Whether it’s making a great pourover coffee, checking out a local café, or reading anything coffee-related, those little moments brighten her day.
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