THE COFFEE PROJECT Pt.1 (My Job)

This will finally be the first post on the actual work I'll be doing in Vanuatu for the next two years. In addition to considering myself pretty lucky to have been sent to Vanuatu (pacific island with safe water and almost no dangerous flora/fauna), I'm also lucky to be taking over an existing project that seems to be working fairly successfully. Each time Peace Corps commits to a work site it's a 3-term contract. Meaning 3 two-year PCV's (or 6 years) will work the project at a minimum. For this reason many volunteers are taking over existing work in some form or another. In some cases, if there was no project successfully developed, it's just as if they were the first person there except that the locals are used to having a white person around. In other cases PCV's are the very first person to a village and must start from scratch - which can be a daunting task especially if you spend most of your time just getting people used to the idea of working with a white man. In my case, however, the coffee project is alive and well and my primary goal will be to ensure it's survival, continue to educate the locals on how to run the place on their own, and hopefully further develop the farmers production of coffee as well as try and develop the factory as more of a tourist friendly destination - including getting them to pay a small fee for a tour (which would go to the charity that is helping the farmers). But first...

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COFFEE IN VANUATU:

It is believed that at the turn of the century Vanuatu was producing about 200 tons of coffee per year - until the United States depression triggered a worldwide depression and wiped out the local coffee industry.

1960's - 1980's : Tanna was producing about 2 tons per year from operation run by "white" men.

1980's - The French and the British, which had just granted Vanuatu independence from their joint colonial rule, created the CDC (Commonwealth Development Co.) with the intention of turning Vanuatu ("using" is a better word) into a major coffee and cocoa producing nation. They planted thousands upon thousands of coffee plants, built 5 compounds of living quarters for white land managers, constructed huge processing facilities, storage facilities, and mechanical facilities all out in the middle bush of Tanna island. They had a 10-room office building, a 3 bay auto body shop to repair factory vehicles, generators, and enough production capacity to produce up to about 2000-3000 tons of coffee (by one estimate). Between 1983-85 they were hitting about 5 tons max! By 1986 it peacked at 62 tons and the next year a cyclone hit (Uma - a really bad one) and wiped out most of the crop. By 1989 they were still not producing more than 15 tons per year. The project was a failure of the highest degree. But why?

They had built a factory and support network that far exceeded the possible capacity to make it worth the trouble. The maintenance alone would be a killer. But the staff was massive and expensive as well. Plus, and maybe most importantly, they didn't understand the local culture and never considered whether or not the local famers really wanted to plant and maintain coffee, or if they needed to plant coffee (they sure didn't).

In 1991 the European Community (pre-cursor to the current European Union) built a much smalle, much more sensible factory in Lowkatai village (my home) - while the CDC was about ready to shut down the middle bush fiasco.

By 1995 the CDC basically collapsed and they called in an Australian coffee expert named Terry Adlington to evaluate the situation. By the end of 1997 Terry had been working on the project for almost 3 years and had not ever been paid. A court battle ensued and the CDC just washed it's hands of the mess by giving Terry the new(er) factory, leases on several coffee plantantions and leases on a small bungalow project (no longer existing) as settlement.

In 2000 the CDC became the TCDC (Tanna Coffee Development Company), a for-profit enterprise run by Terry. At this point they are producing about 8 tons on average. Far less than the local demand of Vanuatu. Terry is driving all around Tanna collecting the coffee himself and trying to get the farmers interested and basically working himself into the ground. Overhead is too high, he's too far removed from his primary customer (Efate) and he's just spinning his wheels. It's not a sustainable situation for him and changes are needed. In 2001 Terry moves to Efate and leaves the factory in the hands of the locals.

In 2002 POPACA arrives - the new French/EU team that plans on providing funding/management/ and infrastructure to the coffee and cocoa projects. Some might call it an attempt at redeeming the earlier failure of the CDC. This time they designed the new aide organization with the local department of agriculture and included Ni-Vans - it was more of a development situation, rather than a rape the locals situation like 20 years earlier - some might say.

Terry leases the factory to POPACA for 1 vatu per year. Production reaches 11 tons.

Up until this time each step of the processing of the coffee was conducted at the factory:

1. Buy cherry (the coffee "fruit" picked off the tree for 25 vatu
2. Pulp the cherry off the bean
3. Wash and ferment the bean
4. Dry the bean.
5. Hull the bean
6. Sort the bean by quality.
7. Bag it and ship it up to Efate for roasting and packaging by Terry.

Now it starts to get interesting. Maybe.

In 2003 POPACA begins building pulpers out in the fields, staffed by processing agents, who are provided housing at site. Farmers are paid by the agents at the pulping stations.

POPACA is also giving revolving lines of credit to the factory exclusively to buy coffee cherry, but the accountant doesn't understand what this means and for over two years never makes a single payment on the loans and has been using them to pay for salaries not just for coffee.

POPACA management never questions this, but keeps approving more loans even at times when they know it's not the coffee harvest season.

By 2004 the project is basically declared a disaster. Production is only 5 tons, there are major quality control problems, no managerial oversite, and tons of cash handling irregularities at the individual pulping stations. They decide that the local Ni-Van farmers are simply lazy and are not working the fields properly.

Now they decide to scale back the project and someone has the idea to request the assistance of a Peace Corps Volunteer to oversee the pulping stations and provide technical assistance.

In February the charitable organization C.O.V. (Coffee Organisation of Vanuatu) is formed with a 6 member board of all local Ni-Vans. They take over the lease and operation of the factory and continue to recieve the revolving credit from POPACA who is, at this point, just about ready to toss in the towel.

Enter Peace Corps Volunteer Jeff Robinson, my predecessor. He is placed out in the middle bush, lives with the locals, learns the local way of life, and as is our goal, develops an understanding of the motivations, trials and tribulations, of the Ni-Van culture. He is originally given the task of managing the pulping stations, but is also given instructions to conduct a land survey of coffee.

He spends the next 8 weeks going house to house, village to village, by foot - and collects enough data on coffee plants to makea huge impact on the Department of Agriculture and the COV. Up until this point they had no real data or understanding of where the coffee was, who owned it, or what condition it was in. Jeff was a hero.

But POPACA still thought the Ni-Van was a lazy person and wouldn't be producing much coffee. It's important to note that POPACA, while a wonderful organization, pays their staff a regular salary, provides whiteman houseing with cable TV, and provides a truck. Jeff, living out in the bush, toiling away for free, and using only his feet to get around, understood that the local Ni-Van wasn't lazy - they just didn't need to work all day in the garden, work all day cooking dinner and taking care of the children, work all day cutting firewood, and then work all day picking coffee cherries only to have to walk 2 kilometers up hill both ways (yes - both ways! own and up, down and up) carrying a couple kilograms of coffe on his back only to get paid 25 vatu per kilo. It simply wasn't worth it to them.

So Jeff was able to convince Steven, the new guy, of this observation and the big lights went off. POPACA started building 27 pulpers located strategically in places where Jeffs survery report had identified the most coffee. Then the dismantled the whole processing agent system and let the farmers have the pulpers for themselves. Now they would pulp thier own cherries, dry and ferment their own beans and bring these beans, ready for hulling down to the factory.

and now... the big plus of all - they would be paid 200 vatu per kilogram!! Suddenly it bacame worth it for the farmers to begin producing coffee. At the same time the factory, by giving up the pulpers and training the farers to do the first three steps, was able to drastically cut down on it's overhead. Now it only needed to hull and sort the bean. Then put it on a ship to Efate.

Unfortunately, the friuts of these efforts didn't immediately become apparent and POPACA decided to close it's contract and will be pulling out of Vanautu sometime in the next couple months. Based on Jeffs own survey they had budgeted to pull in over 15 tons and only got 6 tons so this was disappointing - but they weren't seeing the long-term big picture. But at least they've decided to continue offering a revolving line of credit to the COV at only 1% interest. If we used a local bank it would be nearly 25% interest!!.

In the mean time Jeff and Steven continued working with the local farmers - getting them educated and spreading the word on the new system. Getting people excited about planting and growing coffee again. It's easy to see how they would be sceptical - in the last 3 years they worked under 3 different systems (I've been trying to be brief so I've left out many other details)

After two years of effort Jeff, Steven, Kamut, and several others in the Dept. Of Agriculture pulled together a plan that seems finally be paying off. Sensing an opportunity to see the fruits of his labor Jeff decided to extend his PC contract by 6 months. Another lucky move for me since now I get his insights and assistance for the first 6 months of my service.

Today we are about halfway into the harvest season and have already collected over 9 tons of coffee. Things are looking up. Way up. The farmers are excited about getting good money for the coffee. Another co-op has sprung up that serves as a delivery service for the farmers - they drive around and collect from all the small frys and pay them a little less, then bring the coffee down to us in one huge truck load. This benefits us by letting us deal with one customer instead of dozens, encourages farmers to grow more coffee, and benefits the farmers by eliminating the need to pay for transport to the factory. It's really working out amazingly well. And aside from the oversite of the Peace Corps, it's very nearly a Ni-Van operation. The COV is doing well and the farmer are really happy.

And then the hulling machine broke.

It's been broke almost all season. So now the factory has 9 tons (and growning) of un-hulled coffee sitting around. We can't seem to get the machine fixed and we have to keep getting more loans to buy coffee but haven't been able to collect any payments from Terry since we haven't sent him any coffee!

Anyway... i'm sure that will get handled soon enough. I don't think it's a serious situation. We are just waiting for some settings from the manufacturer in England.

So...

My main job will be to make sure this whole thing doesn't fall apart. And without a Peace Corps (or similar) volunteer overseeing the operation it certiainly would fall apart. At this stage it operates like a large lemonade-stand, in terms of complexity, but it's amazing how quickly projects can go right to shit when left solely in the hands of the locals - even though that is exactly are ultimate goal. I know it sounds cynical, but it's just a fact of current Vanuatu life. Things are changing, but verrrrry slooowly.

My main counterpart - the guy who basically runs and best understands the factory - is illiterate. It's painful to watch him try and fill out reciepts and then count out cash to the farmers - and he's our number one guy! We are going to hire a new book-keeper, part-time - someone with a year 10 schooling, and I'll spend the next two years trying to teach literacy to Kamut.

I'll also be trying to turn the factory into more of a "Local success story" tourist destination. More on that later - but I'm hoping that maybe some contacts back in the USofA (CB&TL, and Starbucks) might be willing to assist in that area.

Additionally I'll be working on teaching hospitality to the locals who operate the nearby bungalow project where I've been living. This culture knows NOTHING about hospitality and therefore the only successful operations are run by Australians or other "white" men. But the bungalows are wonderful in the simplicity and custom nature of the grounds and structures - they just need to understand things like hot water showers, clean towels, and sanitary kitchens. And service. And cooking. and... and...

It sounds like Jeff did all the hard work on the coffee project, and he really did. But I've definitely got my plenty on my plate for the next two years.

If there are no photos on this posting, please check back again next week. I've got some good photos of the old CDC project and the current factory, but the connection has been terrible and I can't get photos loaded.