The aim of this project is: 1) to produce an additional stream of income for coffee farmers to assist with the obstacles climate change will bring to their business in the coming years 2) use a portion of the sales to plant additional trees or invest in carbon offsets 3) eliminate the pulp from being dumped in or around the farm that can contaminate the soil as well as local water streams.

In partnership with: Manlao River Coffee Farm

Update

12/20/2017

During 2017 our aim was to have the super heated steam production system installed and processing Cascara this year in China for their harvest which is happening now. Unfortunately, an investor who we believed was committed to our project was not able to get his entire company to approve. However, our ambition, goal and hope has increased. We now hope to launch this project in two countries at the end of 2018. An organization has approved grant funding for one of the projects and we are in discussion with several entities to execute this project in another region with the hopes if it being Ethiopia. In addition, we have redesigned the machine to be mobile so it can be transferred to other farms after a county’s harvest has finished.

Globally coffee farmers are fighting battles alone without the proper support. Their voices have been muffled by the industry they support. To date our farmers have received minimal investment from key industry players who have benefited from their hard work, yet they neglected to provide these people with the aid they need to innovate, increase profitability, and adapt with market demand. Current and past initiatives have not provided farmers the tools to battle climate change, effectively negotiate pricing or access capital. Sumerian Coffee has begun investing in a new technology, super heated steam, to up-cycle the pulp of a coffee berry into a commodity creating a continuous source of income. The problem is and always has been money which has now been compounded with climate change. The coffee sector strongly believes investment into rehabilitation and renovation of coffee farms as well as creating more options for structural financing will overcome these obstacles. We are not of the same thought, this strategy will likely help the few but not create the wealth they need to live livelihoods without consistently fighting for survival. In 2018 Sumerian will launch the first super heated steam system to produce a by-product that has the potential to adequately access resources and give our farmers opportunity to live, lives with stability and options. This technology is produced by a company who closely works with NASA on multiple projects as well as other technological advanced organizations. Our system will reduce what was discarded as waste and dehydrate the pulp effectively extracting the water which resides in the pulp providing a water source that didn’t existed. We are committed to providing over 125MM people options to truly live. We are realistic about our commitment, it will help but it's not going to create the change we seek.