SOLAR Project: Somchan Sayavong From toddler to trainer: A life dedicated to coffee farming culture

Somchan Sayavong From toddler to trainer: A life dedicated to coffee farming culture

As a child, Somchan Sayavong would play among the coffee trees on the family farm, occasionally helping out, but probably just as often getting in her parents’ way. Those years of youthful play and work amid the green leaves and ripening berries of their small plantation would end up shaping her ambitions as an adult. 

“I was lucky to be born in a family of agricultural workers,” said Somchan, now a Coordinator at the Bolaven Plateau Coffee Producers Cooperative (CPC). “This environment has provided me with a lot of knowledge, and I’ve learned more than in any class I’ve attended.” And Somchan would know, as she is a university educated agriculture expert who now leads coordinated training sessions for coffee farmers in the southern region of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Founded in 2007, the CPC is a 100 per cent farmer owned and operated organization made up of nearly 2,000 coffee growing households across 55 villages. The CPC currently receives extensive support from the SOLAR Project – a European Union-funded initiative implemented by the ILO and Oxfam. As she walks through the CPC’s processing factory, Somchan makes it clear that she loves her job and is pleased that she can follow in her parents’ footsteps. She takes pride in the CPC’s success in making coffee products of better quality and earning more money for its members – and for coffee’s role in raising the profile of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic around the world. But the CPC is about more than increasing coffee production and growing sales, and Somchan is particularly committed to the collective’s other mission: promoting the health, safety and social protection coverage of coffee farming households. In her training sessions, farmers and processing workers are taught about occupational health and safety, the Lao social security system, and how to engage in collective bargaining with buyers. New CPC members receive training on safety and how to use the safety materials provided, as well as the need to wear safety clothing and gear.

Somchan’s dedication to promoting the safety and health of farmers and coffee workers and ensuring that they are covered by social protection reflects her belief that happiness stems from good health. This mission inspires her to continue empowering farmers and exploring new ventures in the coffee industry, which are being supported by SOLAR Project, including the provision of safety materials used in coffee processing plants and on farms.

“The safety measures that we have learnt are very relevant to our work. They help to reduce production costs and we feel safe while working, both in the factory and on the farm. We also have better quality products,” she explains. But efforts to persuade CPC members to subscribe to the Lao social security system have not met with universal success, as some members believe the health care benefits do not live up to their promise. A particular issue is that the social security card can only be used at one hospital in the locality, which limits access and the extent of care available. However, Somchan is hopeful that over time, it will become more and more appealing to coffee farming households.

“All the staff at CPC have social security because we have to. I believe that most of our members have enough money to become independent members. Everyone will do so if the Government can resolve the problems that some people have experienced,” she said.