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Living Light News ran a story on one of our coffee partners in Alberta! Poul Mark, an international coffee expert, is putting his boots where his beans come from. He’s partnered with Food for the Hungry for the next five years to lend his expertise to the coffee growers of Burundi.
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Living Light News - January/February 20128
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growingby Elisabeth Handley
How many cups of coffee do you drink in a day? Two? Three? Have you ever thought about where that coffee comes from? Much of the world’s coffee comes from independent family growers that often live in abject parts of the developing world. Burundi is one such country. Located in Central Africa, it’s one of the five poorest countries in the world with many citizens living on less than a dollar a day. About half the size of Nova Scotia, Burundi has been plagued by devastating civil wars in recent years. Much of the population is farmers, and the main export is coffee. With coffee costing upwards of two to three dollars per cup, one might think coffee growing would be a lucrative venture for independent growers. Not so in Burundi, where the country’s so poor growers are unable to cash in even with a sought-after crop. “The poverty is extreme. But in the communities, there’s hope,” said Poul Mark, coffee expert and founder of Edmonton’s Transcend Coffee. “The kids had smiles in spite of having nothing; they still laughed, played and sang.” Mark’s doing more than feel pity for the plight of growers on whom his business is built. He’s putting his boots where his beans come from and doing something about it. “There’s a developing trend in the specialty coffee industry toward direct trade where we go into the country, meet the farmers and buy coffee from them,” says Mark. “What we want isn’t just a photo or marketing opportunity, which a lot of
those can become, but a mutually beneficial long-term relationship.” “How can we help them learn and grow so that in five years they don’t need us any more, other than to buy coffee at a fair price?” To that end, he’s partnered with Food for the Hungry Canada and Sherwood Park Alliance Church to support coffee growers’ co-operatives. “I was significantly impacted,” says Mark of his visit to Burundi. He blogged about it at transcendcoffee.com. “Those 10 days broke me in ways I hadn’t experienced before.” The project’s goal is to produce better quality coffee for buyers and self-sufficiency for the growers, with the overall aim of alleviating rural poverty and revitalizing the coffee sector. This endeavour isn’t without significant challenges. Burundi’s farmers can certainly produce gourmet-quality coffee that could fetch premium prices on the world market. But factors like poor soil quality and aging trees prevent them from doing so. “The poor quality of the soil was identified by the community as one of the most critical issues,” says FH Canada’s Carissa Youssef. FH Canada is a Christian organization that works with churches and community leaders to overcome poverty. Terracing and tree nursery projects were started to get newer, healthier trees growing in the region. Sherwood Park Alliance Church has a five to
seven year partnership with FH Canada’s Burundi mission. The church has sent five teams so far and primarily sponsors children and the terracing project, says church spokesperson Michael Deboski. “In the future, we anticipate supporting a school rehabilitation program and the coffee growers.” Mark got involved through the church – a friend of a friend knew Mark and asked if he’d like to be a part of it. “It was meant to be,” says Mark, who became a Christian in high school and went on to attend Bible school in Denmark. “It was orchestrated.” Mark says he got into the coffee business because he’s always wanted to create a space where people could gather.
“I finally executed on it,” says the coffee connoisseur, whose business grew from one roasting facility and café to three in five years. “I’m self-taught in terms of coffee. I didn’t know much about the coffee industry, but I had a fairly decent palate.” He’s now committed the next five years of his life to being in Burundi at least once a year. “People need to be supported, encouraged, taught and given resources, not just aid,” he says. “I’ve been to Africa and all over Central America and experienced poverty before, but God gave me a heart for the people of Burundi.” To learn how you can help the people of Burundi, visit www.hopeforburundi.ca.
HopePoul Mark, an international coffee expert, is putting his boots where his beans come from. He’s partnered with Food for the Hungry for the next five years to lend his expertise to the coffee growers of Burundi.
“Those 10 days broke me in ways I hadn’t experienced before.”
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