The Coffeelands Trust
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The Coffeelands Trust (Coffeelands Landmine Victims' Trust) is a project that provides direct support to victims of conflict who live and work in coffee communities throughout the world. The Trust seeks to connect the coffee industry and coffee consumers to victims of conflict and provides resources for rehabilitation services and economic development opportunities. It is a project of the non-profit organization Polus Center for Social & Economic Development based in
Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...
, United States. Dean Cycon, owner of Deans Beans, a coffee-roasting company in Central Massachusetts and Michael Lundquist, Executive Director of the Polus Center for Social & Economic Development have worked for many years in developing countries to promote social and economic justice for some of the world's most vulnerable groups. Deans Beans and the Polus Center have partnered in the grassroots development projects that have created economic opportunity for "death train" victims in Tapachula, Mexico, assisted people with disabilities to create small businesses in
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
, and worked together to address basic nutritional needs and helped to combat social stigma for people with leprosy in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. In 2005, Cycon's knowledge and experience with coffee farmers and their struggles and Lundquist's work with landmine victims allowed them to make the connection between landmines, unexploded ordnance, or UXO, and coffee. After review of the data they determined that landmines and UXO were present in six of the ten top coffee-producing countries in the world, and that these deadly devices not only kill and maim coffee farmers and their families, but have a significant negative impact on coffee production and the quality of coffee. While the
Ottawa Treaty The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...
focused the world's attention on the need to address the landmine issue; the majority of money and resources are directed toward mine removal and mine risk education; very little support is being allocated to direct victim assistance. The United States and other donor nations have made substantial progress in the areas of landmine removal and mine risk education, but resources for direct victim assistance have been minimal and will likely continue to be. Because of the lack of resources for rehabilitation services many landmine survivors are facing a very uncertain future.


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External links


The Coffeelands Trust website
Coffee organizations Mine action organizations Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts Coffee in the United States Agricultural organizations based in the United States Agriculture in Massachusetts {{Nonprofit-org-stub