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Interview by Tom Wilde, West Sales Manager
Andres Gonzalez is the General Manager of Co-operative Manduvira, a sugar cane farmers organization in Paraguay that supplies sugar for Equal Exchange. We interviewed him exclusively for The Exchange.
Tom: How are things?
Andres: Well, quite well, thanks, with the good weather - a bit cold - and just right for a good harvest.
Tom: Are you right in the middle of harvest? And how many members are involved in this year's harvest and how many tons of sugar cane are you expecting to cut this season?
Andres: There are 800 small-scale farmers involved as farmer-owners of Manduvira and we are renting a sugar mill this year to process our own sugar. The mill is just 65 miles from here and it's a real achievement that we will have something that is purely ours. We are the only association of small-scale farmers that has taken this important step, and we're expecting to process 6,000 to 7,000 tons of sugar this year.
We're not too concerned about the exact yield this year, because the yield last year was very bad - last year we lost nearly 70 percent of the harvest. This year is shaping up better because there have been much better rains. Naturally, this current crop suffered some lasting effects of the drought last year, but with the weather being really good the cane is mostly recovered and we should be back to normal by next year with a normal amount of rainfall.
Tom: So the farmers decided to get their own sugar mill?
Andres: We don't yet own our own mill, but we are, like I said, leasing a sugar mill factory. The factory sits about 65 miles from Arroyos y Estreros, which is the name our district, in the department of Cordilleras. That's about 45 miles from the national capital of Asuncion. For your readers, recall we are in the heart of South America, squeezed in between Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. We're a bit lost as a small country in between big countries. It's also a problem that we are a land-locked country, with the only way to market being down the Paraguay River to the ports in either Buenos Aires or Montevideo. That is a major disadvantage but with a bit of extra work and effort we overcome that.
Tom: For the 800 farmer-owners involved in Manduvira Co-op, what is their average farm size and what products, in addition to sugar, do they grow?
Andres: The average farm is about six acres. Here we are in the breadbasket of the world when it comes to organic sugar. In 1993 we started working together and ... in a little mill we had the world's first container of organic sugar. Then we decided we could make a big difference and started growing sugar organically. This entire valley is now organic. Organic sugar is the main crop for all the members, and a part from sugar they also grow organic sesame seeds, cotton, stevia (all organic) and all the food for themselves, the fruits and vegetables and other foods, like manioca and peanut. They also raise animals for themselves, chickens and a few animals maybe, but nothing on an intensive scale - just for feeding themselves.
Tom: Impressive that so much is grown on so little land. If sugar is the main crop, how much of a farm family's average income comes from their exports of sugar?
Andres: Great, well the main income generator is sugar cane and provides 70 percent of income if we count the value of the food the family grows for itself.
Tom: How has the quality of life changed for those who have become members of Manduvira?
Andres: Things have changed a lot. In the farming region, people have been growing sugar for a long time. The co-operative was founded and [I worked] on recovering lost payments from the privately owned mill, which was paying the worst prices in the entire country. They still pay the worst price in the country! But we started talking to the members and organized ourselves, having all kinds of meetings. Now we have our own company, we're renting a sugar factory, which we've renovated and in that way are creating more competition. There had been a monopoly here - they were the only buyer for cane and monopolies are always bad. When you have a monopoly run by government, that's bad but at least you can protest. When it's a private de-facto monopoly they say "no" and it's "oh well, too bad." It was a very difficult situation. And they never wanted to sign a contract, but now that we are organized they have had to make the effort to try to contract with growers, which in turn obliged us to strengthen the co-op. Since 1993 the co-op farmers have been taking their Manduvira Co-operative sugar out of the area to that factory that we are now renting.
In 2004, we started getting our own organic certification. Previously, the organic certification was in the name of the mill and that kept us from promoting our own products. With our own certification we got to the point where we were free to sell our own crop. In 2005, we took over the production of the milled granulated sugar ourselves and in that year sold 285 tons. One of those first containers went to Canada - to your partners La Siembra - and I think that's when you started selling our sugar. That makes you one of our first customers and is important to us to this day.
From there the growth came fast. In the following year, 2006, we had already shipped 1,500 tons of sugar. Then in 2007 we passed the 5,000 ton level of shipments, and in 2008 to 6,200 tons. Then last year the harvest was way down because of weather, particularly the drought. This year, 2010, we just started harvesting the organic cane five days ago. With the organic, we expecting to cut enough cane to reach our goal of 6,000 to 7,000 tons of sugar.
We are the only co-operative of small-scale farmers that have been able to rent their own factory. Every other of the 77 sugar factories are private companies and the owners are very influential, having lots of political and economic power. Power and ownership are inseparable, and there was no one who believed we would be able to rent our own place using just the support and hard work of the co-op members. And we've done it with strong management and sound administration, a strong co-operative and strong leadership, and now we are in the very good market position for both the organic and the Fair Trade markets.
Tom: You've explained a bit about the farmer-owners and the co-op's development, but our readers would also like to know how you got involved personally?
Andres: I've actually been working in the co-op for 24 years, so a long time. I'm the son of a farmer - we purely grew sugar - everyone grew cane. My mother is still living, but now she's retired. I studied and while I was in high school and college I worked on the farm to help my dad. Later, I cut cane myself, hundreds of pounds a day, and I took that by ox-cart bulled on the four-mile round trip to the mill. That was a two hour walk each way and really forged my character, giving me lots of patience - that is something one needs to get ahead. Mostly because here in this country nothing is easy to get done. So that experience permitted me to know perfectly well the situation farmers were in and how much work and sacrifice was being done by cane farmers and cane cutters. Then that experience was shared in the co-operative to move forward with the co-op idea and change the lives of everyone and improve the quality of life of the farmers and everyone involved in the work. Really, our effort has paid off - now 8,000 to 10,000 people directly or indirectly in Arroyo y Esteros count on the co-op. That's the entire community of 20,000 inhabitants.
Tom: So how do farmers not in Manduvira sell their crop?
Andres: Really, everyone in the area is involved in Manduvira now, with a minimal percent of folks not involved in the co-operative. We're paying the best prices in all of Paraguay. As a co-operative we are always making plans to get more money to members. And we're getting those good prices to farmers thanks to the support of the Fair Trade community. And it's not just the Fair Trade premium, that's $80 per ton, that is important yes, but additionally it's the understanding of markets and that ability to learn from our partners that has really made our reality better. Right now we have a real understanding of markets and we can execute accessing those markets. Thanks to that part of Fair Trade we are able to make the sale of our products go mostly to the producer and we've taken ownership of more of the supply chain. It is fundamental to have an improved quality of life thanks to Fair Trade and now that we are exporting to 19 different countries all over the world. We sell to the most demanding markets in the world: Canada, the U.S., countries in Asia like Korea and also within Latin America, all thanks to the support of Fair Trade organizations.
Tom: That's great. Our readers are also interested in climate change, and if that is affecting farming, how are Manduvira members responding to those changes?
Andres: We had to involve a Canadian non-profit organization that specializes in strategic planning to put together our plan to try to be able to deal with the impacts of climate change. It can't be avoided, so all we can possibly do is try to mitigate the impact by having a plan that works through such methods as reforestation, better plant variety selection, and irrigation systems that have no negative impact, protecting groundwater supplies, and using green fertilizers. It's known that a drought does more damage to plant varieties that aren't right for the conditions and does more damage when ground cover vegetation is insufficient. With green fertilizers one can maintain great ground cover and that retains soil moisture. All our members are aware that this is a long-term threat and we urgently have to begin adjusting in order to stay ahead of things in the long term.
Tom: In addition to the processing and exporting of sugar, what other services does the co-operative provide to members?
Andres: This is a multiple services co-operative, or as the members call it a multi-action co-op. We have a Savings and Loan to provide banking services to members. Also we have medical services including laboratory services and health diagnosis services at a very low cost to members. It is Fair Trade funds that pay the rent for the medical clinic. We are helping farmers in getting their children to school. The co-op has a policy called "Integrated Support" for all the sons and daughters, 15 years old or under, of farmer members by which we help with everything. The reality in this country is that there are a lot of kids dropping out of school. We, however, have made a major commitment to educate our children. They have to be in school, and the co-op provides everything they need - school uniforms down to the socks, all the writing materials, pencils, books, even the backpacks. That way there is no excuse for a member not to have their kids enrolled, one can't say that there wasn't money for school supplies. So now that policy is in place and they all feel the kids have to be in class. Also we have our own tractor that the members paid for in total, including maintenance. There is the sense that this is a real achievement for Manduvira Co-operative.
Tom: When is the harvest?
Andres: It goes from July to December. During this time of year there are 4,000 people working on the harvest. And I know earlier you asked what would have happened if Paraguay would have won the World Cup [Paraguay lost to Spain in the semi-finals of the quadrennial global soccer tournament.] You asked if we would raise prices, but I think we would have been so happy that we would have wanted to give away all the sugar! Except to Spain - now they're going to have to pay dearly for it!
Would you like to try the sugar? Email the author at twilde@equalexchange.coop for a free sample.
Learn more about Manduvira sugar co-operative by watching this video.
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Our Co-op 
