Internal Inspections

This week we have been working on the Internal Inspections. These are kind of the crux of what we do as an Internal Control System. The inspections are when we formally review the actions of our farmer-partners in the last year (or since the last inspection) and observe the actual state of the farm. They are also when we write the report that will be formally reviewed by our outside auditor, so we need to put our best face forward and make these things look presentable. Here’s a synopsis of how they go down:

1. The Warning

As you can imagine, there can be some frustrations associated with trying to keep to a relatively tight schedule that relies on farmers being available, but so far things have gone pretty smoothly. A few days ahead of time, I try to be in touch with each grower personally to give them a written notice that we are going to be visiting. This seems to be pretty necessary, and unfortunately it can’t be done too far in advance because not many people keep a calendar and will remember an appointment more than a few days out.

2. The Arrival

We’ve been traveling as a group of four (myself, Philip, Cassman, and Gilbert). I was very keen on having Gilbert and Cassman act as our inspectors, but I don’t think I did a good job of preparing them for the task. When we arrived at the first farm we set Gilbert up as the Inspector. It was clear pretty quickly that he was in a little over his head. Again, I take responsibility for this since the training of the inspectors was my job, and frankly, I have no business training anyone on a task I’ve never performed myself. So after our first visit I took over for the rest of the day and have been acting as the inspector since. As I’ve gotten experience I think I’ll be able to guide other people to being effective/efficient inspectors both through some 'classroom' style exercises and also hands on experience.

Before the actual inspection, we take care of some paperwork. First, we go through the Farmer Contract point by point, answer questions that arise, and get that signed. Next we review the information for the Farm Entry Forms and get the farmers to sign those as well. That is a good springboard into the inspection since the last questions of the Entry Form dovetail with the first questions on the Inspection (i.e. Are your fields the same as last year? and do you keep the same animals as last year?)

3. The Inspection

After the interview stuff is over, we start moving around. We begin with the compound, checking the storage area. Nobody has an area dedicated to organic storage yet, so preparing that (e.g. tidying up and putting a sign saying “Organic Storage Only” on the door) is going to be a condition for everybody this year. I’m glad that we have one universal condition that is pretty simple which can be used as an example for everyone in order to describe what a ‘condition’ is.

I set the date that this particular condition needs to be done as October 31. Kind of arbitrary, but also the earliest I can imagine myself getting back around to check on those things. I’d prefer to get around to check if people have done it before the 31^st because I’m not quite sure how I’ll handle it if farmers blatantly ignore such a simple requirement. I’ve already put one farmer on my bad list (note, this is not an actual physical list) because he told me he had 1 goat when he really had 2 during our initial interview. Probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, but his motivation was that he thought I’d be more likely to help him get another goat if I thought he was poorer than he is. Seriously, if you can’t trust a guy to be honest about how many goats he has, what can you trust him with?

Next we head into the fields and take a leisurely stroll with the farmer through all of the coffee fields. As we are treking the inspector is trying to complete the inspection form, or at least take notes that will allow him to complete it later. There are specific questions on the inspection form, but they can be lumped together as: Maintenance (pruning, shade, cleanliness, etc.), Erosion Control, Pests/Diseases, Weed Control, Borders, and Yield Estimate. I think that if an inspector keeps cycling through those 6 categories as they move through the field they’ll see almost anything they need to. You need tricks like this checklist to keep your senses active during an inspection, otherwise you start seeing nothing but a green blur and you're wasting everyone's time. It’s a fun challenge to try to keep yourself as aware as possible, something I used to really love about working in a greenhouse. There, you can use sight, touch, hearing, and sometimes even smell to make sure the plants are happy and healthy and that all the equipment is functioning correctly. In coffee farms, I’ve only figured out how to use sight so far (though smell seems to have it's place). 

Finally, at the end of the stroll, we ask the farmer about the yield of berries at this point relative to last year and try to get a yield estimate. This is a little ticklish since we are essentially asking the farmer how much coffee we should be willing to buy from them at the premium price. I don’t think many people get that, and I feel like we are getting more underestimates than overestimates, so I’m rounding up most of the time. In the end, it will be more important to look at the harvest records the farmers keep in order to know how much coffee we can buy as organic.

4. Paperwork

Later, I take my notes and memories and do my best to complete the Internal Inspection forms. These forms end with me making a recommendation for the farmer to be either approved without conditions, approved with conditions, or not approved. Since we cherry picked farmers from our first review of Oku, I’m finishing every inspection with a recommendation of approval with conditions.

Giant challenge ahead: Making sure those conditions get fulfilled.