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Mexico considers to be one of the most important countries in the production of coffee (it’s in the 7th place worldwide). The climatic and geomorphologic conditions in Chiapas, that help the growing of the plant, make the state the biggest coffee production of whole Mexico. The local production of coffee outreach the 25% of the national total and the coffee of Chiapas is consider to be one of the best around the world.
The coffee has huge value as product: with annual economic circle more than 70 billion dollars, is in the second place, after the oil, between the most important raw materials. Around 25 million small-producers worldwide are living from its cultivation, while if we count also their families and the associated positions of work (harvesting, processing, trading),then we speak for hundred of million people that are depending from this fruit.
From the huge profit that brings this product, one small part of it is going to the producers: almost the total amount is going to the intermediaries of trading and processing of the coffee, mainly to the big corporations. This phenomenon the last twenty years increases rapidly.
Following the neoliberal movement of the times, in 1989 the protective regulations from the International Coffee Agreement were abolished. In the same moment, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund gave generously loans for the development of the coffee cultivation in countries, which until then were not producing (like Vietnam). As a result, there was oversupply of the product. The prices in the international stocks collapsed and from there on, despite the temporary rises, remain at low levels until today. The average price of Arabica coffee in the stock of raw materials of new York was, for the period 1976-1989, 3,30 dollars per kilo. For the period 1990-2005 fell to 2,20 dollars per kilo. If we count also the loss of value of the dollar due to inflation, we can understand that the producers saw the value of their product to fell more than the half.
That was the so-called “coffee crisis”. During the same period, the big coffee corporations had a remarkable rise of their profits: the reduced price of the raw material didn’t pass to the consumers but to their shareholders. From the other hand, the small producers had to face difficulties, especially in the Central America. While their income was not enough anymore to cover the production cost, hundreds of thousands abandoned their lands and immigrated in the big city centers or in USA. Thousands of them disappeared trying to pass the borders USA-Mexico. Moreover, the fall in the price influenced, like domino, the whole economical life of the families in this region, which are receiving big amount of their incomes through the exports of the product.
The indigenous population of Chiapas was hit, even worse, by the crisis. They were blocked from the rest of the economical activity of Mexico, while the cultivation of coffee (or the shifts for its gathering in other plantations) was their only real income. In this region, the intermediaries in 1993 were paying 8 peso (60 cents of euro) for one kilo coffee, while its price of resale in Europe was more than 10euro. A lot of people claim that the collapse of the coffee price was the last straw for the indigenous in Chiapas. Those who didn’t abandon their plantations and their families for immigrating in USA, joined the zapatista army and in 1 January 1994 revolt.
After the revolt, the demands of the revolted indigenous for recognition of their culture and of their collective, economic and political rights, were not satisfied. Then, their struggle pass in a new level:the reconstruction of their autonomy out of the Mexican state.
In this movement were participating thousand of indigenous coffee producers with experience from their previous participation in productive cooperatives, which were not concerned just only for finding an economical way out for their members. As a result of their experience and of the new relations that EZLN created from the start with the international solidarity movement, it appeared a perspective: the establishment of the first zapatista coffee cooperative. The target of the producers was to obtain an alternative way of supply and export of the coffee, which would allow them to avoid their total dependence from the intermediaries and from the unpredictable global market. To their call-out for the creation of one “other” market of coffee with more dignified conditions for the producers, responded quickly small coffee shops from usa with cooperative structures and progressive political orientation, but also solidarity collectives and people with no previous trading experience.
The first coffee cooperative exclusively with Zapatistas members was the “Mut Vitz”( The mountain of the birds) in the region San Juan de la Libertad, in the highlands of Chiapas. The “Mut Vitz” was established in 1997 from 200 coffee producers, while in 1999 held the first sale and export of around 35 tons to Europe and to usa. The coffee was sold in the prices that were set by the organizations of “Fair Trade”. That means that the producers were paid with higher prices in compare to the conventional market, more than double from the prices that the intermediaries were giving to them until then.
The experiment of “Mut Vitz” proved to be very successful. Within 3 years, the amount of coffee export grew up five times more, while the members significantly increased, as more and more Zapatistas producers entered in the cooperative. But with a common decision, the cooperative chose not to accept new members until all producers complete the transitional period of 3 years, for the biological certification of coffee. This is how a new cooperative was created in Pantelho, in the highlands, which was established in 2001 by those Zapatistas who had not been directly accepted from “Mut Vitz”. Its name is “Yachil Xojobal Chulchan” (The new light of the sky) and founding members were 328 producers. In 2002, was exported its first coffee container to the “solidarity market”, while the next years was increased significantly the amount of the coffee that was produced and the amount of the Zapatistas producers that participate in this.
The third zapatista coffee cooperative which operates in Chiapas and exports coffee through the solidarity network of supply in Eurore and in USA, is the “Yochin Tayel Kinal” (Starting to work the new land), which is based in Altamirano and comes under the Good Government Council of Morelia. It was established in 2002 and held its first export of coffee in 2003. In this cooperative used to participate temporarily 800 also producers from Roberto Barios zone, who, after getting the necessary expertise, they organized in 2007 autonomously in a new, forth cooperative, named “Ssit Lequil Lum” (The fruits of mother earth), which held its first export the spring of 2008.
The general assembly of the producers is the supreme body of the cooperatives, which is convened at least once in a year and elects new administrational council every 3 years. In total, they are included in them around 2.500 producers, while the amount of coffee that goes to the solidarity networks of disposal is some hundreds of tonnes, depending the special conditions each year. They are an integral part of the zapatista movement and therefore, they cooperate with the political structures of the movement, the Good Government Councils, respecting their decisions, which aim at the wider interests of the autonomous structures and communities.
The zapatista coffee cooperatives is maybe the most obvious example of the development of alternative and autonomous economical structures in Chiapas. Through their operation, the producers don’t depend from the local and global market. Through the collective organization and the cooperation with the solidarity networks of disposal, the producers receive one price for their product that can cover the cost of production and brings them an dignified income, which improves within the years. Also, they gain access to common structures and technical support. But they are not only the producers that win benefits. As long as the cooperatives develop and improve their functions, they contribute some amount of the income to the autonomous programs of education, health and to other social structures. From the other hand, the initiatives and the organizations that participate in the solidarity networks of disposal return some amount of their incomes for the same reasons, to the zapatista communities. With this way, the coffee cooperatives operate as driving force of the zapatista movement.
In their way until here, the cooperatives faced, and continue to face, remarkable difficulties. The building of an effective organizational structure that will respect the horizontal and direct democratic political orientation of zapatista movement, was at first their biggest difficulty. They consciously refuse any kind of help from the Mexican state and only with the support of independent and solidarity organizations of Mexico, try to deal with the technical and bureaucratic processes. At the same time, they try to develop some infrastructure projects such as spaces for storage and preprocessing the coffee. The biggest obstacle, currently, is the Mexican authorities, with highlight the penalty, in 2007, for Mut Vitz, due to tax irregularities[1]. On the horizon, it seems to appear new difficulties. Only time will show how, in cooperation with the Good Government Councils, they will manage to face them. Until then, they will “walk by asking” or, as someone from the indigenous says, ”let’s try it and we’ll see”.
Nowadays, the zapatista coffee is distributed, at least, in 12 European countries from a variety of initiatives [2]. All these local initiatives are connected between them through the horizontal network RedProZapa (Distribution Network of Zapatista Products), which helds central assemblies twice a year in a European city. Their basic and common characteristic that unites them is the political solidarity with the zapatista struggle. The sale of the coffee has as target the economical support of the productive structures in Chiapas.
The coffee, that the zapatista cooperatives provide, belongs in the variety “Arabica”, which quality is superior than the variety “Robusta” which we usually taste[3]. It has half the caffeine content while it has a rich taste and a soft aroma. Its cultivation happens in areas with altitude over 600 meters and with intense humidity, circumstances that considered to be remarkably supportive for its quality.
The saplings of coffee are cultivated under the natural shade of trees, so that the cultivation does not disturb the ecosystem of the region. Except this, there are used only biological methods for its cultivation: the zapatista communities have strictly forbidden the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the autonomous areas. The three cooperatives (Mut Vitz, Yachil Xojobal Chulchan and Yochin Tayel Kinal) have official certification of biological cultivation. But as long as the institutional certification costs a lot in money and in bureaucratic work for the cooperatives, the fourth cooperative (Ssit Lequil Lum) decided to implement an autonomous control system of the quality and the “self-certification” of the coffee, in collaboration with the Good Government Councils and the solidarity organizations and scientists from Mexico.
After their harvesting, the coffee’s seeds are submitted to a series of stages of natural treatment: cleaning and separation with water in order to be distinguished the “bad” ones, drying in the sun and after this peeling, in order to end up in the big bags as “green”, unroasted coffee, ready to be sent off in the distributional teams for their subsequent roasting. And from there, in our cup.