|
 |
Our coffee comes from the B'laan people around Mount
Matutum, in the province of South Cotabato, Mindanao Island,
Philippines. They sell their world class arabica coffee and civet
coffee
at a fair traded price.
The B'laan farmers grow arabica coffee plants under the thick forest of
Mount Matutum. They also protect the wild civet cats (Paradoxurus
Philippinensis) roaming in their forests.
It is from the Philippine civet cats that this tribe is making most of
their livelihood. Civet coffee is from wild mountain cat droppings on the B'laan forest floors. These nocturnal animal uses
its nose to choose the ripest and sweetest coffee cherries and
relentlessly eats them during coffee season. Gathered very early
in the morning, usually before sunrise, the forest dwellers climb the
mountain and pick the civet droppings on the forest floors. On a
good day, a gatherer can collect one kilo of civet droppings.
Coffee for Peace is also helping another ethnic group in Mindanao, the Bagobo tribe,
to grow and sell coffee at a fair traded price.
Most of the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao, or the Lumad, are
struggling to preserve their respective cultures, protect their
ancestral lands, and to govern themselves in accordance with their various
traditions. The term they use to describe their vision of the
future is "the right to self determination of the Indigenous
Peoples."
Coffee for Peace is committed to support their journey towards
achieving the Lumad's right to self determination.
|
|
