2022 Seeds Fund Recipient
The Kazoza N’Ikawa Cooperative was founded in 2007 with a goal to improve the livelihoods of coffee farmers via the production of specialty coffee. Coffee is an important source of revenue for producers, but because it is only harvested once a year, finding ways to diversify their income is key to meeting needs year-round. Kazoza N’Ikawa—producers of Mpemba—used a Seeds grant to purchase and distribute seedlings to members. Avocado and papaya plants offer farmers food security and Neem, a fast-growing evergreen tree, is used as organic pest control. In addition, the trees create a diverse ecosystem and surplus production is another source of income for the farmers.
Seeds Program
Counter Culture Coffee collects $0.01 from every pound of coffee sold to fund our Seeds program. Annually, $1 per pound of our winter coffee blend, Iridescent, goes to further increase our contribution. Seeds offers financial grants to producers and producer organizations we work with to implement sustainability projects they identify as beneficial. To date, we’ve allocated over $280,000 to Seeds projects.