One Burlap Sack at a Time: Pushing Towards a Better Future for the People of Malawi
Copper Moon Coffee is always searching for ways to give back. We are firm believers our actions can have a big impact on the world, and we all should try to leave the world a better place than we found it. We are excited to be able to support The Malawi Project with efforts to mitigate the ramifications of famine in the country of Malawi.
Due to insects and disease, Malawi loses an estimated 15-25% of its annual crop yield. The Malawi Project's solution involves building large storage facilities to store maize, reducing the amount of crop loss so that more is accessible during years of famine. Two of these buildings have already been built with more to be constructed shortly. However, there is another problem facing the people of Malawi; they need containers to store maize. Copper Moon Coffee goes through huge amounts of burlap coffee sacks. Instead of throwing them away, we are providing 4,000+ burlap sacks to The Malawi Project each year. This is one of Copper Moon’s many efforts to recycle and re-purpose our waste, improving overall sustainability. These sacks will be transported to Malawi and distributed throughout the local villages. The people will fill each burlap sack with maize and sew it shut to be stored in storage facilities and used in times of famine.
Malawi is a small, impoverished country nestled in the eastern corner of sub-Saharan Africa. They are peaceful people and take great pride in the way they welcome tourists with open arms. Many Malawians even refer to their country as “The Warm Heart of Africa”. However, the living conditions in the country aren’t nearly as friendly as the people living there. According to MalawiProject.org, 52% of the country’s population lives under the poverty line. The country requires education on farming techniques to improve crop yield as well as medical practices to create and train more medical professionals. Currently, there is estimated to be only .02 doctors per 100,000 people in Malawi, as opposed to 2.42 in the US.
Progress is being made in the areas of education and medicine since The Malawi Project was formed in 1999, but they still need assistance. The more coffee sold at Copper Moon Coffee means more burlap sacks will be donated to The Malawi Project to store food. If you would like to learn how you get involved, visit malawiproject.org