Coffee Means Hope To Samoan Farmers

Some Samoan farmers, recovering from the tsunami of a year ago, are being given hope by newly planted coffee seedlings. Coffee plants are being provided to participating farmers to both help them and to revive the coffee industry begun by Germans prior to WWI. A New Zealand businessman is not only working to revive the coffee farming, but this time, he wants to do it organically and sustainably.

Now the Samoan government has approved a “stimulus plan” to help more farmers plant more coffee. Five hundred are expected to sign up.

The main challenge to Samoan coffee is the climate, since Samoa is close to the equator and is considered too hot for coffee. Apparently no one has told the coffee plants that, since the project’s leaders just processed the beans from the first harvest from the project’s plantings of three years ago.

Coffee is becoming so much more popular that new farms are springing up in many places where previous crops proved unprofitable. Now that coffee’s demand has grown, the farmers can receive more for their crops and increase production. Even areas not considered perfect seem to be producing coffee, which is a good thing for farmers such as those in Samoa, who had stopped planting anything because of the recent natural disasters.

It’s a nice feeling, especially at this season, to be a part of the gift of hope just by enjoying and buying coffee. Even if you can’t yet buy Samoan coffee, unless you travel to Samoa or New Zealand, by participating in creating a growing demand for the bean, it is helping small farmers in many parts of the world.