Fair Trade USA Creates Fund For Leaf Rust Projects, Adds $50,000

photo courtesy Fair Trade USA

Fair Trade USA has established a coffee rust fund to provide direct funding to Fair Trade-certified producers in Central America. The group is pitching in $50,000 to get the fund rolling and it has created a webpage that makes it easy for people and businesses to contribute directly to rust-related projects.

“Fair Trade USA is in a unique position to empower both coffee drinkers and coffee producers to invest in the future of this important commodity,” says Ben Corey-Moran, Director of Coffee Supply at Fair Trade USA. “Our rust fund, together with the individual and collaborative efforts of the entire coffee industry, can help farmers protect their coffee lands for generations to come.”

Here’s more about the fund from Fair Trade USA:

Here at Fair Trade USA, we’re committed to helping small-scale Fair Trade farmers not only fight the current Roya outbreak, but also to prevent future outbreaks. That’s why we’ve developed the Rust Response Fund, designed to support rust mitigation and prevention in the most affected regions.  Here’s what you should know:

1. Fair Trade USA has already committed $50,000 to the Fund, and is collecting additional donations between March and June to further support rust-related programs in major coffee producing regions in Central America.

2. Fair Trade USA will contribute 100% of the donations to Fair Trade producer organizations.

3. Farming organizations will apply directly to Fair Trade USA for this grant, and must present a project proposal for consideration.

4. Grant recipients will be selected by an external grant committee comprised of industry members, NGO representatives and agronomy specialists.

5. Fair Trade USA will monitor all winning projects from start to completion and will share regular progress updates.

6. This grant money can be used on projects such as: plant rehabilitation, farmer training, organic application, soil management, hiring rust consultants, etc…