projet IPACS

Mut-Vitz or Bird Mountain.

There is a dizzying and enigmatic mountain in the Altos of Chiapas, whose rocky cliffs studded with pines point towards the sky. Its name is Bird Mountain and it towers above the valley in the Municipality of San Juan Libertad. The ancients say that it is told that in cloudy skies during a certain period of the year, a phenomenon occurs on the mountaintop. A volley of birds whose intestines are clean and empty flutter by under the clouds. The ancients say that it is told that their ancestors went to the summit of the mountain, and in the fog, threw their nets into the air to fish the birds.

The Mut-Vitz coffee and honey Cooperative Society bears the name of this charismatic mountain. We went to meet with members of the cooperative in two communities of the municipality in San Antonio Brillante and San Miguel. They greatly helped us to understand their situation as producers of coffee and honey and invited us to share their daily lives.

The lonely coyote.

In this region, situated inside the coffee growing zone of Chiapas, everybody grows coffee and the milpa. The milpa provides the basic foods for the family while coffee and to a lesser extent honey practically provide the sole sources of revenue. These small producers possess a maximum of one hectare each of land on which to cultivate. They see themselves forced to sell their products, coffee or honey, to a coyote. The coyote is a middleman who profits from the remoteness and lack of resources of these fragmented small producers to buy their produce at the lowest possible price.

At this point, the coyote will sell the coffee to the exporter and the multinational corporation who then distribute the produce, harvesting the majority of the profit. The small producers receive the least money in this chain of exploitation in spite of the fact that they do the most backbreaking work. What’s more, the price they receive is dictated by the market and oscillates, to the misfortune of the producers. History has shown a host of examples of how prices can fall, should it be for coffee, bananas, coco, or other raw goods. In this case, the price doesn’t cover the costs of production and leads families, who are already in precarious situations, into misery.

A volley of birds.

The Mut-Vitz Society began in 1995, year following the Zapatista uprising. The idea sprang forth from the encounter between the civil society and the Zapatista communities as a solution to obtain a better price and improve living conditions, as well as to develop autonomy. Communities organized themselves and converted to organic coffee growing in the same year. They managed to receive their certification by CERTIMEX and their exporting license in 1998.

Mut-Vitz includes approximately 1,000 coffee growing members (with thirty women) in thirty-three communities and 60 members in six communities for honey. These communities meet once a month in assembly. During our passage through San Miguel, we attended one such members’ meeting, outside in front of the village’s general store. In spite of the thick rain that was falling, the audience formed of thirty men, seemed respectful to the wet speakers who expressed their opinions (although we understand not a word of Tzotzil). It was explained to us that every community has one ore two representatives according to its population. These representatives form the Board of directors and also assemble in monthly assemblies. Nobody commands. What can be resolved by the Board of directors is resolved. However, many decisions are sent back into the communities for an agreement to be achieved. Every year and according to necessity, a general assembly is organized.

The coffee tree.

Early in the morning, we descended into the valley with Casimiro to work in his coffee plantation. Machete in hand, we did the limpia to clean the ground of weeds and the recepa, which consists of trimming each plant. This young twenty-year-old explained to us how, along with his father, he started the orchard from scratch, germinating seedlings (semillero), planting a nursery (vivero), and in the end the plantation. As he cut dead branches, he explained to us that the plant needs four years before it can yield a harvest. The coffee harvest is done in the months of November and December by the family and requires a lot of work. Once the fruit is harvested, it is de-pulped, fermented, washed, and dried in the sun to give the bean a better taste, body, and aroma.

Since the production has been organic, the amount of work has increased. The producers must dig terraces in the slopes to retain organic material. They need to make their own compost out of a special mix that they give their plants every year. According to the demands of CERTIMEX, they must diversify their shade by planting different species of trees, augmenting the quality of the coffee and helping against pests. Casimiro confided to us that in spite of the extra work that organic farming necessitates, he is happy to be respecting the earth, the water, and the birds.

The bee.

With the noise of rain on the tin roof, the honey-producing co-op-members explained their work to us after the meeting at the general store. The production of honey needs a considerable investment for these small producers who must buy hives, boxes, wax, sugar, and a smoker. The work overall consists in cleaning around the hives and checking that there are no pests every three or four days. During the rainy season, there are almost no flowers. These bee-farmers must therefore feed the bees with a mix of sugar, water, and honey so that they can survive. The rest of the year, these little beasts buzz from flower to flower in the coffee plantations. The harvest done, each hive gives up to 18 liters a year. Each community has an extractor to separate out the amber-red liquid.
Miguel Ramirez, an ex-representative of the honey-producing members at San Miguel, told us that currently, the bee-farmers have several problems with harmful insects. Because of a lack of technical assistance, these producers don’t know how to properly control the pests that can kill their bees,

At the foot of the mountain.

The Mut-Vitz Society has been exporting its high quality organic coffee for six years already. From twenty sacks a year (of 79 kilos/sac), they have increased to sixteen containers (250 sacks/container), shipping towards fair trade markets in the United States and the European Union. Their full selling capacity could fill 30-40 containers. Thus, a large part of their production is still sold to the coyotes for lack of buyers.
Even with fair trade, the exporting of coffee requires supplementary investments of the producers to sort their beans. Of the gross price paid for the coffee, the transportation, storage, treatment, and packaging must be deducted. In spite of the costs, the price offered through fair trade remains much more stable and advantageous than that of the coyotes. Every year the Society keeps 5$US per 46K sold, an obligation of fair trade. This will provide for the purchase of the Society’s own installations with time, and allow for an increased benefit to its members.

For the honey, which only has only been included in the Society for three years, there is currently only one buyer, and the majority of the produce continues to be sold to the coyotes.

To sum everything up, since ’95 the Zapatista coffee growers have organized amongst themselves and have become organic farmers through pure work. The organization of the Mut-Vitz Cooperative Society contributes to allow the Zapatista rebels in resistance to receive a better price for their coffee and honey through fair trade. Sales increase slowly but steadily. Meanwhile, the difficulty to encounter new buyers still obliges members to sell their product to the coyotes. The benefits of free trade still have a small effect on the living conditions of producers at the foot of Bird Mountain. What remains is for those who support the Zapatistas to organize themselves as well!

Sociedad Cooperativa Mut-Vitz
Oventik, Chiapas, México
Email: mutvitz@laneta.apc.org
mutvitz@yahoo.com.mx