After All, It’s These Values That Matter: Humanity, Authenticity, and Better Than Fair
Coffee is not exempt. It is a mirror held up to the world, reflecting our deepest imbalances. In cafes across Berlin, London, and New York, developed nations’ youth find creative, lucrative employment in the value-added world of coffee—as roasters, baristas, brand managers, and entrepreneurs. They work with the finished product, the story, the mark-up. Meanwhile, across the ocean, the African youth who grew that very coffee languish in poverty, caught in a cycle of harvesting a raw commodity they are told has no greater worth.
For decades, the narrative has been one of extraction. The old models of neo-colonial industrialization promised prosperity but delivered dependency. Capitalism, in its rawest form, did not help Africa; it exploited its margins. It created a system where the wealth generated from Africa’s richest soils and hardest labor accumulated elsewhere. The skills and knowledge to add value—to roast, to brand, to export directly—were kept behind guarded doors, a modern-day monopoly on opportunity.
But these days are coming to an end. A new consciousness is rising, and it is speaking with a voice that is unapologetically African.
We are social people who care for the planet. This is not a marketing slogan; it is our way of life. So, we must ask: why are we told to plant more trees, to nurture the land for a global climate crisis we did not create, only to have that very stewardship monetized into carbon credits for the global north? These credits allow the highest polluters to continue their harmful practices, assuaging their conscience with a financial transaction while our ecosystems remain fragile. This is not partnership. This is penance.
We ask a fundamental question: Can a carbon credit buy a human life? Can it restore the dignity of a community?
For us, coffee is not a ticker on a commodity exchange. It is our livelihood. It is the school fee for our children, the medicine for our elders, the future for our youth. To treat it as a mere asset for financial speculation is to do business with people’s lives. To some, it is a beverage. To us, it is our culture. It is our DNA.
This is not a plea. It is a declaration.
A new, embedded mindset is growing in the heart of Kenyan coffee, and it is rooted in Humanity, Authenticity, and a standard that is Better Than Fair.
· Humanity means recognizing the faces and the futures behind every bean. It is a direct, human connection that rejects opaque supply chains and demands equitable partnerships where well-being is a shared key performance indicator.
· Authenticity is our strength. It is the unique terroir of our highlands, the heritage of our varieties, and the truth of our story. We will no longer let our coffee be blended into anonymity. We own our narrative.
· Better Than Fair moves beyond a minimum price. It is about a shared mission. It is about co-investment in processing facilities, roasting units, and barista training for our youth. It is about building capacity, not just buying crop. It is about opening doors, not just shipping containers.
The future of coffee is not in perpetuating the old system of value extraction. The future is in authentic partnership. It is in recognizing that the highest quality coffee cannot be grown in impoverished communities. It is in understanding that the true value of a cup is measured not just by its taste, but by the justice it embodies.
The call is for a new kind of trade. One that honors livelihoods, not just commodities. One that respects culture, not just contracts. The world enjoyed our coffee for decades. Now, it is time to respect our people.