Field Visits Part 1: Interviews

   The Cassman and I got started on our field visits this week. These visits are the first step in getting farmers and their fields registered in Mocha Joes' Internal Control System. During the visits, we are learning about each farm individually and getting a more concrete idea of how farming, coffee farming in particular, is being practiced here in Oku. With this information we will be able to complete our application as an ICS and also register our farmer partners in the program.

    The visits happen in two parts: interview and field walk. The interview takes about 10 or 15 minutes and we ask the farmer about the fields he manages, what he is growing on each, and when was the last time he used any agrochemicals on them. There is certainly a presence of inorganic fertilizers and herbicides here in Oku, although pesticides for controlling insects or fungus are almost entirely absent. That is a little surprising, since the greatest complaint among farmers is the loss caused by the coffee berry disease, a symptom of infection by the fungus Colletotrichum kahawae. In general, the use of fertilizer is mostly in maize fields and has not been practiced widely for coffee since the late '90s. When farmers have used fertilizers in their coffee fields in the past three years it was offered at a subsidized rate by the government or a development agency.

    Our interviews also cover the handling of coffee after harvesting, so we are finding that most farmers do not have their own pulping machines but need to borrow or rent them. On the other hand, for as many people who tell me that there are not enough pulpers around Oku, no one we have interviewed has told me that they had a problem finding one when they needed it in the past. Next we discuss storage of organic products. To my surprise, when I ask to see where people will be keeping their organic coffee, most will bring me to their bedroom. After seeing that, it seems a little unnecessary to tell people that they should not store agrochemicals in the same room (who wants to sleep next to a bottle of glyphosate?), but who knows, right? A bag of fertilizer may make a nice pillow.

    One aspect of the interviews that makes me a little uncomfortable is that I get the impression people are trying to impress. So when I ask if they have ever used fertilizer in a certain field, they will emphatically answer no. With a little pressing, the farmers let you know that they used to use fertilizer in the past, so when they said no they meant 'not recently'. I don't like that sort of ambiguity but as I am getting to do more of these interviews, I'm learning how to better phrase the question and reassure farmers that we are not here to trap them in a lie or met out any punishments. In time, as our mission becomes more familiar those sorts of misunderstandings should become less common.