Araku Coffee Project by Naandi Foundation in India: A Global Production Networks Perspective
The global coffee market has undergone several structural changes with power shifting from the International Coffee Agreement and its member countries to international coffee traders, multinational coffee corporations, and ultimately end-consumers. Despite these changes, the chronic issue of income disparity between coffee-producing and coffee-consuming countries remains entrenched. Although various international organizations and individual companies have initiated diverse sustainability movements, these efforts have shown limitations. In this context, it is essential to identify and analyze successful examples of prioritizing the development of marginalized tribal coffee producers and their community in the process of globalization. It is also essential to generalize factors contributing to their success. This study aimed to analyze the Araku Coffee Project led by the Naandi Foundation in India through lens of the cultural-political economy of the Global Production Networks (GPN). The Naandi Foundation rooted in the philosophy of sustainability has worked to enlighten the indigenous people of the Araku region while cooperating and building trust with smallholder farmers, cooperative, European carbon-fund, and international buyers. During this process, not only a platform of international coffee sales but a regional coffee festival called ‘Gems of Araku’ was initiated while marketing efforts using the name of ‘Araku’ were made. At the same time, organizational strategies of the global production network were put into practice. As a result, coffee production showed both quantitative and qualitative growths, leading to an improvement in the quality of life for the indigenous people.