MICHIZA

Fast Facts on Coop Yeni Navan, MICHIZA

-932 members, of which 266 are women
-Founded in 1985
-First international exports in 1989
-Present in 43 community
-Coffee is Organic Certified by NATURLAND, Germany
-Yeni Navan means "Permanent Sunrise" in English 

Yeni Navan started as a small organization regrouping organic coffee
producers from various ethnic groups. Their name, MICHIZA, is an abbreviation
of these five groups: Mixtecos, Chinantecos, Chatinos, Cuicatecos and
Zapotecos. The farmers hoped that through the organization they would be able
to stop the local intermediaries from manipulating the local price of coffee
and exploiting them in the process. By 1991, they were capable of exporting
independently.

MICHIZA offers technical support to its members to improve their capacity in
organic agriculture and overall coffee quality and yields. MICHIZA is also
responsible for marketing and the direct export of their members` coffee. In
addition, they are in a constant process of promoting women`s participation in
their decision-making, the impact of which is noted in the number of women who
are members.

The main objective of Yeni Navan is to raise the living standard of of its partners and families through sustainable agriculture and the construction of a fairer and more equitable market.