As we continue to celebrate ten years of UK Coffee Week and Project Waterfall, we look at some of the challenges we’ve faced and ask why it’s more important than ever before to support our coffee-growing communities.
Project Waterfall was launched in 2011 by Jeffrey Young, the founder and managing director of the Allegra Group, to end the water crisis in coffee-growing communities around the world.
UK Coffee Week was set up to raise the funds needed to do that work.
From the start the focus was on clean providing clean water to coffee-growing communities.
“We wash our hands with water that’s way cleaner than what most people are giving their children in the communities where coffee is grown,” says Jeffrey.
“Ten years ago, I saw provision of water and clean sanitation as a basic human right. I saw UK Coffee Week as a way of actually making that difference, by using the connections that we had built up over my years of running Allegra to see if we could bring everyone in the coffee industry on board.”
There were, however, challenges from the start.
“We had to deal with the aftermath of the global crisis of 2008,” says Jeffrey, “It was still having an impact by the time we launched, and recently we’ve obviously had Covid-19.
“But in the UK, people have never stopped drinking coffee. In fact, now they may indeed be drinking more of it, and higher quality and more at home.
“So the idea is still relevant – people can still celebrate their wonderful daily cup of coffee and help to give essential water and sanitation to people who should have access to it.
“And it’s more important now than ever before. During the pandemic, all over the world we’ve been instructed by our governments to wash our hands thoroughly, and for 20 seconds. And in the UK we have that beautiful, crystal clean water for us to be able to do that.
“But in certain areas, people don't even have access to any kind of water to wash their hands, let alone safe water. It’s so important.”
There may also be challenges to overcome in the coffee-growing communities themselves, but there are tangible and sustainable solutions to the water crisis. It’s the aim of Project Waterfall to implement them.
These can range from solutions creating access to water, such as hand digging wells or using a drilling team, to solutions that improve quality, such as bio sand filters or water purification systems.
Covid has also brought the importance of clean water to the top of the agenda in many coffee-growing countries and Governments have realised that they must invest in clean water and hygiene programmes.
Now is the time to get involved. Whether you’re a brand, coffee shop or coffee connoisseur, we’d love to have you on board.
Register your interest to be part of UK Coffee Week 2021 today! Click the button below.
Read more
Miss part one? Click on the image below to read our World Water Day where we looked back on ten years of tackling the water crisis in coffee growing communities.
Read the latest update from Project Waterfall on our work in Ethiopia by clicking on the below image.
