HOW YOUR COFFEE UPHOLDS PEACE, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS.
Women-owned. Sustainable. Irresistible. Mighty Peace Coffee has set out to provide the Snowy Owl Coffee community, and the specialty coffee world at large, an opportunity to purchase delicious coffee while helping to break the cycle of poverty in one of the most war-torn, neglected areas of the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Too often known for prolonged political corruption and violence, the DRC is emerging as a pillar of the African coffee industry, producing coffee that is absolutely stunning.
As climate change continues to ravage coffee trees in African coffee magnates like Kenya and Ethiopia, the mountainous region of the Congo has been largely sheltered from these effects, providing an element of predictability and stability in a place that lives with constant uncertainty. The coffee we have purchased and roasted from Might Peace Coffee is from the Umoja Cooperative and is grown at 1,480-2,000 meters above sea level in the Kivu region. Aware of the effects of climate change, new trees are continuously planted, with an estimated life of over 100 years.
Operated by an all-female executive team, the 11,600 coffee farmers that make up the Umoja Cooperative are located on Lake Kivu; they share in the financial stability of the coffee trade. For many, coffee is their only source of income. And, thanks to technical training that they have received from partner Peace Cooperatives, these growers are excelling in the art of producing specialty, high grade beans for roasters in developed markets.
Imbedded in our core values here at Snowy Owl Coffee is the idea that our business can support livelihoods not only in our immediate community but along every step of the supply chain down to the growers in origin communities. The shared values of transparency and equitable commerce means that this is just the beginning of what we know will be a long and sustained partnership with Mighty Peace Coffee , who ensure that the Congolese farmer responsible for your coffee receives fair and equitable payments. Members of the community receive compensation well-above fair-trade requirements and the Snowy Owl community - including our customers - all share in paying premium prices to ensure everyone throughout the supply chain is adequately compensated with each purchase.
The DRC is emerging from decades of civil war, and the Kivu regions were ridden with and conflict. Many women in the Umoja cooperative are survivors of sexual assault. Through the coffee trade and partnership with Mighty Peace and roasters like Snowy Owl Coffee these victims are able to establish independent and secure livelihoods. Many farmers are able to build permanent housing and send their children to school through the Congolese ownership model.
Mighty Peace calls their work the “Peace Trade.” Through providing direct means for financial stability and independence, the fair coffee trade is infusing stability into the previously turbulent state. Five years ago, the Congo experienced the first peaceful democratic transfer of political leadership. Today, the Congo has gained support from the United Nations, African business owner associations and the United States.
A FARMER’S STORY
“Meet Victorina Kanane, one of the farmers who grows Peace Trade coffee for Mighty Peace Coffee. Victorina built a house, purchases clothes for her famiy, andn feels secure now that she doesn’t need to travel to find a client. Travel places her at a risk of attack. Victorina is now able to pay for her children’s school fees. She enjoys being able to work in shared field sand begin to buy her own fields” – Mighty Peace Coffee
In Swahili, the national language of the Congo, “umoja” means solidarity. At Snowy Owl, our love for our community extends beyond our Cape Cod family and especially to those most vulnerable in the supply chain; the growers. Reading about the devastation suffered in the DRC is enough to humble us, even as we face this COVID19 crisis. And, as the providers of a truly global product, we consider the coffee community at large to be our community. In solidarity with the 11,600 Congolese, Snowy Owl invites you to taste the richness of Congolese coffee.
Through your support of the Congolese cooperative, Umoja coffee is more than a great cup of coffee, it is a step towards global human rights and peace. We at Snowy Owl look forward to many more years of collaboration, partnership, and solidarity with the Umoja cooperative and welcome your support with your coffee purchase.
