Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Wangari Maathai Visits Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle

Dr. Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement (GBM) and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, is visiting Starbucks Coffee Company headquarters on March 14, 2006. Dr. Maathai, a member of the Kenyan Parliament, arranged the visit to learn more about Starbucks approach to coffee sustainability best practices.

One example of such practices is Starbucks partnership with the African Wildlife Foundation in Kenya, a partnership that promotes improved agricultural practices, marketing, and environmental stewardship for small-scale farmers. The GBM is studying how this partnership is helping coffee farmers while benefiting forest ecosystems and wildlife habitat.

The Green Belt Movement, established in 1977 in Kenya, takes a grassroots, holistic approach to conserving, protecting, and restoring the environment that at the same time leads to sustainable community development. The GBM works to help individuals and entire communities improve both their environments and their livelihoods, sharing the values of self-reliance, self-determination, fairness, and accountability.

In awarding Dr. Maathai the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized her efforts to teach the world about the links between the environment and peace.

It is evident that many wars are fought over resources that are now becoming increasingly scarce. Protecting the global environment is directly related to securing peace, says Dr. Maathai, the only environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Those of us who understand the complex concept of the environment have the burden to act. We must not tire; we must not give up; we must persist.

In January 2005, the AWF and Starbucks Coffee Company began a three-year program focusing on Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices (C.A.F.E.)* in Kenya to help farmers achieve higher yields of quality coffee while protecting the environment. This partnership is called the Kenya Heartland Coffee Project.

Now, the GBM is seeking to learn from this partnership. Many areas in Kenya that are the focus of the GBM's forest and watershed conservation program are also ideal for coffee production. The joint AWF-Starbucks project has provided a model for improving the livelihoods of small-scale coffee farmers. And the GBM has developed the largest network of communities in Kenya that work to protect the environment while promoting sustainable development.

With the local knowledge and expertise of organizations like the Green Belt Movement and the African Wildlife Foundation, combined with Starbucks expertise in coffee quality, agronomy and socially responsible purchasing practices, we hope to improve the quality and increase quantity of coffee produced by selected cooperatives, said Dub Hay, senior vice president, Coffee and Global Procurement, Starbucks Coffee Company. We are pleased to have this opportunity to expand our efforts to enrich the livelihoods of coffee farmers in East Africa and throughout the world.

* C.A.F.E. Practices is a set of coffee production guidelines designed to help coffee buyers and coffee farmers ensure the production of high-quality coffee, promote equitable relationships with farmers, workers, and communities, and protect the environment.