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The
COOPAC Community
Social Benefit
With the benefit of Free Trade pricing
of $1.26 per pound, COOPAC has been able to:
- Assist in school construction
- Assist in the construction of health-care clinics
- Assist in the construction of roads and bridges
- Assist in the well-being of women and the young
Economic Benefit
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COOPAC has been able to begin distribution
of cows and goats to the most productive farmers. These are the
farmers who have delivered the most coffee during the year to COOPAC.
Then, when the first baby cows are goats are born, the farmers given
give them to COOPAC for distribution the next year to more farmers.
Here is the plan for the number of animals to be distributed under
this program :
2003 : 4 cows and 10 goats
2004 : 15 cows and 50 goats
2005 : 30 cows and 100 goats
2006 : 60 cows and 200 goats
2007 : 120 cows and 400 goats
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COOPAC is implementing microfinancing
to protect the farmers from being exploited by small lenders demanding
high interest rates during the off-season. This program is sponsored
by ACDI-VOCA and will probably be launched in 2005.
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COOPAC pays a price of 80 Rwandan
francs per kilo of coffee in cash, with an extra bonus of 15 francs
after exportation, for a total of 95 Francs, which it sells for
475 francs. Meanwhile, all over the country, other merchants selling
fully washed coffee pay 60 francs for a kilo of coffee and sells
it for 300 francs a kilo, which leaves the farmer with nothing and
does nothing to raise his standard of living. Before COOPAC was
formed, the producer sold his coffee for between 100 to 150 francs
per kilo and paid the farmer between 20 to 25 francs.
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