Liliane Eliete da Silva Coffee Farmer at ASCARIVE, Brazil
Liliane farms coffee with her husband on a small property they have built together over decades, and lives with her two teenaged daughters. Climate change is affecting her financial stability, and is contributing to growing uncertainty.
‘My name is Liliane Eliete Rocha, otherwise known affectionately as “The Boss”’. Liliane farms coffee with her husband on a small property they have built together over decades, and lives with her two teenaged daughters.
Liliane was born and raised in the countryside, helping her parents from a young age, and began farming alongside her husband after they married.
90% of ASCARIVE's offee production comes from small-scale family farms, like Liliane’s
But farming has become increasingly uncertain . ‘We live and own property in an area very favorable for coffee, but, even so, we suffer a lot with the climate’s setbacks .’ Climate change has already caused major loss . ‘There were years when the coffee was beautiful, then the frost comes and destroys it. Another year it is drought that comes and destroys it… I lost half of it.'
She knows she can’t control the weather, but believes farmers can do something given the right support . ‘We have already participated in projects that have brought benefits to water, which is very important for us today .’ initiatives such as ‘Clear Waters’ focus on caring for springs and preserving water sources . ‘They help us… to develop these projects, even financially .’
‘As we are Fairtrade, we have to handle as little toxic products as possible'
she says, explaining the push to reduce chemical use . Through talks and training, she has learned about alternatives. ‘We have attended lectures that talk a lot about fertiliser, about green manure, about how we can help the environment.’ But she is honest about the challenge: ‘On paper it’s easy, but to apply it in the day-to-day… it difficult to do it alone .’
‘Fairtrade is a way of adding value, not only to our product, but… also to our lives, because with Fairtrade, our lives have changed completely'
Her hopes for her daughters are rooted in pride for the work and land . ‘The more sustainable I am, the more my children will have a future’, she says . ‘Our goal is for them to leave and study, but to return to the land where they were born and carry it forward… If we make [farming] sustainable today , my children will have it in the future.'
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