Zapatista coffee cooperatives

Zapatista Coffee Cooperatives primarily operate in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico following Zapatismo ideology.

The economic importance of coffee

Mexico is a significant coffee producer (7th place worldwide).[1] Specifically, the climatic and geomorphologic conditions in Chiapas make this state the biggest coffee producer in the whole of Mexico. The production of coffee in this state is 25% of the national total.[2]

In 1989 the protective regulations from the International Coffee Agreement were suspended.[3] In the same period, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund gave generous loans for the development of coffee cultivation in countries that until then were not producing (like Vietnam). As a result, there was an oversupply. The prices in the international market collapsed and, despite 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 it fell to 2.20 dollars per kilo. Also counting the loss of value of the dollar due to inflation, the producers saw the return from their product fall more than a half. Small producers, especially in Central America faced difficulties. Their income was not enough anymore to cover the production cost, so hundreds of thousands abandoned their lands and emigrated to nearby cities or the U.S. The fall in the price impacted the broader local economy of the region, which was significantly supported 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 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 resale price in Europe was more than 10 euros. 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 and emigrate to the USA, joined the Zapatista army during their 1 January 1994 revolt.

Organization of Zapatista cooperatives

After the revolt, the demands of the revolted indigenous people for recognition of their culture and of their collective, economic and political rights, were not satisfied. Their struggle moved to the reconstruction of their autonomy from Mexican state.

Thousand of indigenous coffee producers with experience from their previous participation in productive cooperatives were participating, who were not concerned with only finding an economical way out for their members. As a result of their experience and the new relations that EZLN created from the start with the international solidarity movement, an idea was developed; the establishment of the first Zapatista coffee cooperative. The goal of the producers was to obtain an alternative way of supply and export of the coffee, which would allow them to end their total dependence on intermediaries and the unpredictable global market. Their call for the creation of "another" market of coffee, with more dignified conditions for the producers, was responded to quickly by small coffee shops from the U.S. with existing cooperative structures and a progressive political orientation, but also by solidarity collectives and people with no previous trading experience.

Mut-vitz cooperative

The first coffee cooperative made up exclusively of Zapatistas members was the Mut-vitz ("The Mountain of Birds") in the region San Juan de la Libertad, in the highlands of Chiapas. The Mut-vitz was established in 1997 with 200 coffee producers, which in 1999, held the first sale and export of around 35 tons to Europe and the U.S. The coffee price was set by fair trade organizations.

Structure of the cooperatives

The general assembly of the producers is the supreme body of the cooperatives, which is convened at least once a year and elects a new administrative council every 3 years. In total, there are around 2.500 producers included, while the amount of coffee that goes to the solidarity networks is 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 are maybe the most obvious example of the development of alternative and autonomous economical structures in Chiapas. Through their operation, the producers don't depend on the local or 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 while also bringing them a dignified income, which increases over the years. Also, they gain access to common structures and technical support. But it is not only the producers that benefit. For as long as the cooperatives develop and improve their functions, they contribute some amount of their income to the autonomous programs of education, health, and to other social structures. Furthermore, 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. In this way, the coffee cooperatives operate as a driving force of the Zapatista movement.

Difficulties

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 the Zapatista movement, was at first their biggest difficulty. They consciously refuse any kind of help from the Mexican state and deal with the technical and bureaucratic processes only with the support of independent and solidarity organizations in Mexico. 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, one example being a penalty, in 2007, for Mut Vitz, due to tax irregularities.[4]

Distribution network in Europe

Nowadays, Zapatista coffee is distributed to at least 12 European countries from a variety of initiatives.[5] All these local initiatives are connected through a horizontal network RedProZapa (Distribution Network of Zapatista Products), which hold central assemblies twice a year in a European city. The common characteristic that unites them is their political solidarity with the Zapatista struggle. The sale of coffee provides economical support to the productive structures in Chiapas.

References

Coffee Production worldmapper.org, 2006, retrieved 2012-01-26^
Case Study of the Coffee Sector in Mexico Make Trade Fair, July 2001, retrieved January 27, 2012^
The Coffee Crisis Talk about Coffee^