Time to update again, seriously.
Well, life had been rough for a few weeks. I didn't want be with people and I spent a lot of time alone wasting time on my computer (but not even blogging). My independent study got off to a pretty bad start, but it has since started shaping up somewhat.
Basically, here's what the study looks like it's shaping up to be: all the people in these villages are migrants from the mountains (though most not as recent as I had hoped) and they are all coffee farmers. The majority are quite poor though they work very hard, although there are a few who are doing pretty well (assuming they told me the truth on the various questions designed to sneakily calculate their income without directly asking). These villages are not accessible by road; they all must be walked to up a mountain for 45 minutes or so. They lack accessible clean water and electricity. Deforestation is somewhat a problem but apparently not as bad as other places in this region. Many of the farmers are members of associations which sell their coffee together (often certified organic for a better price), wash their coffee together and some other stuff. But many of the farmers (different amount depending on each village) are independent. So one direction I'd like to take my study is to focus more on what the benefits and drawbacks are of being in an association or independent, what factors contribute to each and that sort of thing. Some trends I've noticed from the few surveys I've done are that the younger men and more recent migrants are likely to have less land (money) and are less likely to be part of an organization. Their land also seems to be a little more likely to decrease it's harvest of coffee each year, yet these men all want to join associations.
I hope that by focusing on this (other things too) I can do something pretty practical and be able to say what the benefits are for the village (and by extension the region if it involves environmental problems) if more farmers are members of associations, and I can maybe say why despite their desire to join an association, most haven't and how NGOs or government workers could help this.
This is less broad and ambitious than it was when I started, but it still feels so big. I hope I can do it.
-Michael
p.s. Buy organic coffee.
p.p.s. Seriously.
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2 comments:
Michael, I am glad things are looking better, at least somewhat. When I saw how down you were in you last post, I felt like I didn't know what to say. That's especially true because I have been up and down like a yo yo regarding mood and so I feel supremely unqualified to offer advice.
Here's a thought. Your post reminded me that U.S. farmers went through similar struggles a century or more ago. They lacked clout with buyers so they formed coops and other organizations. They learned that their farming techniques were depleting the land (big example was the 1930's dust bowl), so they organized "Soil Conservation Districts" and the agricultural extension agencies in most US counties. I'm hoping that Peruvian coffee farmers, and many other developing world farmers will be able to use such techniques to help their business thrive.
Well, keep plugging along, one step at a time. That is what I have to do. I think it is what just about all of us have to do.
I like that you began and ended this post with "seriously." I believe Dr. Lane would call that an... "inclusio" if my memory from OT Survey two years ago isn't failing me...
P.S. I definetly got extra points on my exegesis paper for using that word.
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