A bigger voice for smallholder farmers

Coffee growing communities in Latin America are under increasing pressure from challenges such as a changing climate, unequal power dynamics in global markets and unsustainable agricultural and land management practices. New EU legislation on deforestation-free production is perceived as an additional barrier for farmers to market their produce. 

Isolation, poor connectivity and social exclusion - particularly of women and indigenous groups - mean that too many producers lack the information, knowledge and skills they need to overcome these challenges and make a living from coffee. 

As a result, young people are abandoning family farms to seek opportunities elsewhere. Despite coffee prices being at an all-time high, many smallholder producers are not benefitting, and the sustainability of the coffee sector is at risk.

Making change through a familiar medium 

In response, the Lorna Young Foundation's Farmers' Voice Radio is supporting farmers to tackle these issues. Recognising the generations of experience and knowledge already embedded within coffee growing communities, Farmers' Voice Radio (FVR) focuses on creating an easily accessible space for this information to be shared, amplified and adapted to new challenges. 

Through local language participatory radio programmes, farmers can connect with each other to exchange experiences of good agricultural and environmental practices, joint marketing initiatives and business management methods that are implementable with readily available resources: interventions that work in their context to raise the quality and productivity of crops, increase crop resilience to a changing climate and provide a diversified income and year-round livelihood.

Despite the growth of mobile technology, FM radio still is the most affordable and accessible communications medium around the world: it is trusted, inclusive and has a rapid, wide reach. FVR is an empowering and innovative approach that raises farmers’ voices to address concerns and identify solutions as and when they are needed.

Connecting smallholder farmers in Latin America

In 2022, the Lorna Young Foundation (LYF) launched the Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy to train groups of farmer organisations and co-operatives in the FVR approach and methodology, so they could go on to produce their own radio programmes aimed at farmer members. 

The Academy is a free, practical training programme which combines group work, individual coaching, online resources and a small grants competition, enabling participants to utilise participatory media to improve engagement with and support to members and service users at scale.

In 2024, LYF partnered with the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Producers  and Workers (CLAC) to launch the Academy in Spanish, aimed at Latin American coffee producer groups. Over the course of the year-long project, more than 50 individuals from 24 co-operatives based in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua participated in the FVR Academy, including Shared Interest customers Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Huadquiña Nº109 (CAC Huadquiña) and Valle de Incahuasi Agrarian Coffee Cooperative (CACVI). 

CAC Huadquiña and Farmers’ Voice Radio

In 2024, Peruvian coffee co-operative CAC Huadquiña participated in the Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy and officially graduated from the course in 2025. 

Since July 2025, the co-operative has been broadcasting weekly on two radio stations in both Quechua and Spanish languages to estimated audience of 2,500 people. Its research has shown that many of the communities in this region do not have access to internet and coffee producing families listen to the radio for three to four hours every day.

Announcing to LinkedIn, Farmers' Voice Radio said: 

"Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Huaquiña is the recipient of our first small grant for graduates of the Latin America Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy. Five members of Huaquiña’s management and field team attended the online training and coaching course at the end of last year, alongside peers from 11 other smallholder coffee producer organisations based in Peru, Nicaragua and Honduras."

CAC Huaquiña’s Farmers’ Voice Radio programme will be broadcast on two radio stations in the indigenous Quechua language, reaching an audience of 2,000 families in the Santa Teresa district of Cusco, southern Peru. 

The programme aims to increase the reach and impact of the training and extension services offered by the co-operative to its members, with a focus on sustainable land management, building resilience to the impacts of climate change and meeting evolving EU regulations.

Explaining why he wants to learn to produce radio programmes, Omar, a member of CAC Huadquiña, said:  

‘We want to communicate and inform [our members] about the activities of the organisation and topics related to agricultural techniques, production, social issues and quality control. We also aim to broadcast the policies on collection, financing, and the national and international market situation.” 

“Farmers’ Voice Radio could help [members be] better informed, trained and educated; board members being accountable for management on the radio, and staff being more committed to the cooperative.” 

 Jhony Gayoso Valdera, General Manager of CAC Huaquiña, said: 

“Farmers’ Voice Radio strengthens capacities, skills, and knowledge through a shared experience among producers, who express their concerns. These concerns are analysed by the Programme Reference Group and invited professionals to deepen immediate solutions, allowing for improved agronomic practices, higher yields and quality, economic empowerment of both men and women, and greater resilience to climate change. Ultimately, this contributes to more secure livelihoods, maximizing the quality of life for producers in society.”

CAC Huadquiña and Shared Interest 

CAC Huadquiña provides a stable livelihood for 310 smallholders , each growing quality Fairtrade and Organic coffee on 948 hectares of farmland along some of the highest mountainsides in the world.  

Shared Interest has supported CAC Huadquiña with finance since 2022, helping the organisation to secure and fulfil coffee contracts and grow. The co-operative currently trades one-quarter of its coffee locally and exports the remainder to buyers in France, Germany, Greece and America. One of CAC Huadquiña’s main buyers is ethical UK-based coffee retailer and friend of Shared Interest, Cafédirect

Regarding the role of Shared Interest in CAC Huadquiña’s work, Jhony said:

"Shared Interest financing has had a positive impact on the Huadquiña cooperative, especially in offering [us]: access to fast and timely financing to compete with intermediaries who destabilize local market prices; economic growth [to] expand by generating jobs and strengthening the collections with financing, [and] improving the quality of life of producers with fair and timely payment for their coffee, supported by the financing granted by Shared Interest."

"Thanks to [Shared Interest’s] efficient management, the co-operative has been able to significantly improve its coffee collections [...] fulfilling the contracts signed with customers on the agreed dates for the shipment of coffee containers, allowing for greater transparency and trust between members and directors.

“But what I really highlight is the help that Shared Interest has provided in times of necessity. Its support and solidarity have been fundamental for many of our members, demonstrating that it is more than a financial institution, it is a community that shares interest in strengthening and financial sustainability in each coffee campaign.”

CACVI and Farmers’ Voice Radio

Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Valle de Incahuasi (CACVI), a speciality coffee producer based in the remote southern highlands of Peru, has received finance from Shared Interest since 2017. CACVI supports 514 members located across 14 districts within the remote regions of Ayacucho and Cusco in the south of Peru.

CACVI is still working on their Farmers’ Voice Radio programme plan, which is required to complete graduation. 

Jhon, a member of CACVI and participant of the Farmers' Voice Radio Academy, said:  

“I am a fourth-generation coffee farmer, living in the heart of Peruvian coffee production, and I understand the reality of the rural experience. 

“That’s why I’m interested in the Farmers' Voice Radio Academy, with its sole purpose of delivering important messages on new coffee philosophies, agricultural production techniques, as well as health, nutrition, family planning, and other social and cultural issues […] The idea is to connect with producers, and radio is a suitable medium.” 

CACVI and Shared Interest 

In 2024, Shared Interest Foundation launched a project with CACVI focused on building resilience among 58 young coffee producers through the production and export of dehydrated coffee pulp, and in increasing income while reducing environmental pollution. Implementation included technical workshops, entrepreneurship training and the installation of drying beds and quality control equipment. You can find out more about this project here.

Giving small-scale producers a bigger voice and a brighter future

To date, the initiative has been a great success, with the Lorna Young Foundation having launched another Academy programme in the spring which focussed on involving coffee cooperatives across Colombia and neighbouring countries.  

You can find out more about Farmer’s Voice Radio, here. 

In 2025, we disbursed £57.9 million to support fair trade businesses around the world, including CACVI and CAC Huadquiña, marking a record-breaking year of impact for Shared Interest. Our fair finance has been used by 165 businesses across 42 countries to invest in vehicles, equipment and infrastructure; secure and fulfil buyer contracts; improve liquidity and resilience and provide a stable, dignified livelihood for around 400,000 farmers and artisans.

Withdrawable at any time, funds are used again and again to support producers and producer organisations across the globe.

Join our community and begin investing in a fairer world today.