A day in the life of the sugar cane farmers of Costa Rica and Paraguay
Our Head Sugar, Nicolo Rieben, visited two of the main areas where our organic and Fairtrade sugar is grown: Costa Rica and Paraguay. In his report, the focus for once was entirely on the smallholders: what is a typical day like – and what role does the cooperative play in the farmers’ everyday lives?
For us, maintaining good relationships with our partners in our source countries is essential, because face-to-face talks create mutual understanding and trust – the best basis for successful business relationships. Nicolo’s journey took him first to Costa Rica, to the whole cane sugar processing company ASSUKAR which produces SUCANAT® for us, and to the APOYA cooperative. Then he continued on to Paraguay to the LA FELSINA sugar mill which makes SYRAMENA® raw cane sugar for us, and to the ASOCACE cooperative.
The APOYA and ASOCACE smallholder cooperatives
Even though our processing partners LA FELSINA and ASSUKAR do grow their own sugar cane, they are mainly involved with processing, refining and exporting it. Many other responsibilities are entirely down to the cooperatives: these include coordinating the harvest, certification, deciding how organic/Fairtrade premiums are used, providing training on good agricultural practice and organic farming, georeferencing plots of land and hiring out tractors. What’s really important is that they have access to organic fertilisers such as “gallinaza” (chicken manure) and high-quality seeds which would otherwise be almost unobtainable for the farmers.
The APOYA cooperative in Costa Rica was set up in 2014 with financial assistance from PRONATEC. At just over 40 members, APOYA is quite small but there is potential for growth in the region. Some members have a coffee plantation while others specialise in growing sugar cane. ASOCACE in Paraguay was created back in 2002 with the help of PRONATEC. Today around 240 member families, each with an average of about six family members, together with other agricultural workers and schoolchildren in the region, all benefit from fair trade.
A conversation with a sugar cane smallholder from APOYA, Costa Rica
Magally Fernandez Solano is a member and the chairperson of APOYA in Costa Rica and, with her husband, farms a 1.57 hectare plot of land leased from the whole cane sugar processing cooperative ASSUKKAR. Under the lease agreement, they committed themselves to farming the land in an environmentally-friendly way and complying with the criteria of Fairtrade International. Their sugar cane will later be used to make SUCANAT® whole cane sugar.
What is a typical day like for Magally? “Usually we get up at 4.30 in the morning so that we are out in the fields just before 6 o’clock. That means we can do the heavier work while it is cooler, because after 11 o’clock our work rate slows noticeably because of the heat (or the humidity if it has rained).” The sugar cane is harvested by hand or with a machete. Some smallholders are assisted by auxiliary workers called “cortadores”, but Magally’s family does its own harvesting to save money. “Sometimes our adult children help us. When I was a child I used to help in the fields on days when I didn’t have to go to school.” The local, family-run sugar processing cooperative ASSUKAR, which processes the harvested sugar cane into whole cane sugar and refines it for export, lends the smallholders the company’s own trailers to transport the sugar cane.
Even when it is grown organically, sugar cane is rarely cultivated in mixed culture because it quickly covers the ground in just a few months and needs a lot of sunshine. Nevertheless, it is very good for biodiversity and soil health: the sugar plants, which are about 2 metres high, are not burnt down before harvesting, as happens in conventional farming, but are cut by hand. The stalks are cut down just above ground level, below the leaves that don’t contain sugar. These remain on the field as a mulch – as an organic fertiliser and protection from soil erosion. Pest control is also carried out in accordance with organic guidelines. Working in the sugar cane fields is physically very strenuous. Nevertheless, Magally and her husband are grateful. “There is hard work, easy work, nice work... But the main thing is that there is work.” Making a good profit is very important. “With good seeds, we get a better harvest for virtually the same cost – up to 30 or 40% more.”
The organic and Fairtrade premiums make a big difference. “For organic and Fairtrade sugar cane, we get 34,000 CRC/ton, compared with 25,000 CRC/ton for conventional sugar cane.” The family has other sources of income from working in a restaurant and on ASSUKAR’s fields. One of Magally’s daughters is studying pharmacy, the other one is an agronomist. “Our house is not very big but it has everything we need. And the main thing is that it belongs to us!”
A conversation with a sugar cane smallholder from ASOCACE, Paraguay
Ignacio Arrua, 62, has been a member of the ASOCACE cooperative in Paraguay for five years. He is a widower with five children and appreciates how close PRONATEC is to its smallholders. Ignacio grows sugar cane on about 8 hectares to make SYRAMENA® raw cane sugar and can’t imagine how he would work without the help of the cooperative. “The people from ASOCACE visit us nearly every week and help us in all kinds of ways, be that buying fertilisers or providing a tractor to prepare the ground for sowing or for weeding in the narrow furrows in the fields. It helps us to earn considerably more.” When it comes to harvest time, he employs five or six helpers. For his own needs, he grows other crops such as “yuca” (cassava) or “papa” (potatoes). “We couldn’t operate without the cooperative!” In the last year, the whole area suffered the consequences of a drought and Ignacio lost about 30% of his earnings (some members lost as much as 45%). So the cooperative decided to provide financial support for the smallholders from the Fairtrade premiums. They paid out about 1,000,000 PYG to each member (approx. 150 US dollars). When asked whether he can see the effects of climate change, Ignacio says no. But the most important thing is for the rains to return. Ignacio is confident that this year will be a very good year. “La lluvia es lo màs importante! Este año será muy bueno!” he says, bringing our short, friendly conversation in the shade of a big tree on Paraguay’s sugar cane fields to an end.
Long-term partnerships with the sugar processors, LA FELSINA and ASSUKKAR
With their sustainably grown sugar cane, the smallholders provide a high-quality basis for our products. Local, family-run sugar processors like the LA FELSINA sugar mill in Paraguay and the whole cane sugar processing company ASSUKKAR in Costa Rica ensure that their top-quality organic Fairtrade sugar products are made with the utmost care.
Through our direct connections with long-standing partners, we create transparency and full traceability along the whole supply chain. We will be happy to advise you on our range of organic fair trade raw cane sugar products from Paraguay, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mozambique.
Partner profile LA FELSINA, sugar mill for SYRAMENA® raw cane sugar, Paraguay
Partner profile ASSUKKAR, whole cane sugar processing company for SUCANAT®, Costa Rica