Together with Slow you can address 8 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
In an industry with severe challenges, there’s a world of difference to be made.
We increase, stabilize and diversify incomes of Slow Coffee Farmers, and reduce risks related to livelihoods and finances.
The life of a smallholder coffee farmer is unpredictable – due to volatile coffee prices, and especially when the coffee prices are low. Slow alleviates these problems by paying balancing cash-flows by 40% payments six months in advance. In addition, we implement specific initiatives as requested by the farmers, such as establishing an emergency medical fund, and opening bank accounts and ID cards.
(Points addressed: 1.2, 1.4, 1.5)
Through coffee growing, provision of financial services and income diversification, we empower women farmers.
At Slow, women are decision-makers, and not just agents. 50% of our farmer network growth will come specifically from women farmers, to ensure inclusion. In addition, we provide diversified income activities targeted at them.
(Points addressed: 5.5, 5A)
Slow provides decent and inclusive micro-entrepreneurial jobs for coffee growers and their families and helps sustain a safe working environment.
We want to make growing coffee a decent, safe, and well-paying job for the farmers. We aim to improve workplace health and safety; for example, we installed wet-mill guards to cover moving parts, for all processing units
(Points addressed: 8.5. 8.8)
Through coffee growing, we aim to increase incomes and resilience of people belonging to ethnic minority groups.
Slow includes ethnic minorities in our programme, who are often still at a disadvantage and discriminated against in Laos. We strive to grow our farmer network with ethnic minority farmers, to ensure inclusion. We listen to their needs and give voice to minorities.
(Point addressed: 10.2)
Slow ensures efficient and sustainable management of natural resources through regenerative organic agroforestry and conscious use of plastics.
For example, we are in process of obtaining EU Organic certification, but are already now operating 100% without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. We have already changed to renewable coffee bags reducing our CO2 footprint from packaging with 20-23%, are also experimenting with zero-waste packaging and delivery systems.
(Points addressed: 12.2, 12.5)
Through promotion of agroforestry and income diversification, Slow increases climate resilience of smallholder farmers in Laos
Lao PDR is highly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters, including extreme weather events which have been increasing in frequency and intensity. Slow promotes and implements agroforestry to increase climate resilience – with the smallholders who we work with. In 2021 we had 96.2% of the coffee farms with a canopy cover of 8% or more, and the weighted average canopy cover is 32.5%, with an average of 377 trees per ha. We aim for 40% canopy cover in our farms with at least 12 different tree species per hectare. We also support income diversification to increase climate-change resilience.
(Point addressed: 13.1)
By implementing diverse coffee agroforestry, reduction of activities causing land degradation through improved livelihoods and selected reforestation activities – Slow regenerates and preserve forests, and combats land degradation
Slow implements agroforestry based growing methods with smallholders. This in turn helps prevent soil degradation, deforestation and promotes maintenance of ecosystems services. In addition, our program also prevents deforestation indirectly: through the provision of a stable and improved livelihood with agroforestry coffee, smallholders can now reduce activities that cause deforestation and land degradation elsewhere – e.g., shifting cultivation or conversion of forest areas and agroforestry coffee to monoculture crops such as cassava. We also plan to purchase patches of degraded land in ecologically strategic areas and regenerate them to natural state.
(Points addressed: 15.1, 15.2, 15.3)
Big changes can only be achieved together –
Slow unites multiple stakeholders towards a common goal of conserving and regenerating forests
(Points addressed: 17.16, 17.7)
