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Anderson and Goodness Sykao
Pendo Specialty Coffee Group
Anderson and Goodness Sykao begin work each day before dawn. They gather eggs and fresh milk as the first rays of light peek over Mt Kilimanjaro. They tend to their farm until the sun sets over their two acres of coffee trees.
The Sykaos and their neighbors are members of Pendo Specialty Coffee, a group of smallholder farmers in Tanzania working with Peet’s Coffee & Tea.
“Before joining Pendo,we were very anxious before the coffee harvest,” Anderson says. “Some years prices would be good; other years they wouldn’t be. If prices were low, we couldn’t buy simple things like meat or new clothes. We couldn’t put anything back into the farm either.”
Local coffee farmers established Pendo as a means to attract higher prices by improving quality and marketing straight to buyers. Since 2005, Pendo farmers have consistently sold their coffee direct to Peet’s and earned the highest prices in the area.
For Anderson and his family, this relationship has made all the difference. “Now, we always have plenty of food. We can invest in our coffee farm. We’re sending our oldest son to high school.”
Pendo farmers have also pooled their extra income to support community projects. “We built the first wing of a new school last year – in just three months. This year we’re planning to build wells and pipe water to every house in the village.”
“If things stay this way,” Anderson smiles, “we know life will continue to improve.”
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