BD Imports

When leaders around the world came together at the United Nations in New York in 2000, they drafted what has become the most challenging set of goals of our time. Even with all of our collective technology and resources, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were then and still remain our most daunting social challenge.

One of my most memorable experiences in coffee was to receive an invitation from the United Nations' International Trade Center (ITC) to attend the 43rd Joint Advisory Group (JAG) meetings at the Palais des nations Geneva. The goal of ITC is to help developing and transition countries achieve sustainable human development through exports. The purpose of the meetings was to examine activities of ITC and make recommendations to World Trade Organization (WTO) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The ITC, Executive Director, Patricia Francis opened the meetings speaking about the importance of staying on track during a difficult world economy. "During a time when the World Bank is forecasting a 2.1% contraction in trade for 2009, many countries facing a decrease in export revenues by 50%, and the Millennium Development Goals moving further from sight, we should continue to stay focused on doing the right thing right." She outlined three key factors to building successful markets: having a long term strategy, being agile, and developing partnerships.

The first International Women in Coffee (IWCA) workshop was held in Uganda in 2009. The workshop was huge success with 30 participates attending the work shop representing 12 countries, 9 of which were African countries.

We visited the Paruber Coffee Farmers group and a cooperative in Uganda that had recently undergone a gender sensitizing training program. The program was designed to help promote equitable decision making at the coffee farming household level to enhance productivity and profitability for both men and women.

BD Imports assisted the Rockford Rescue Mission with creating the Restoration Cafe. The cafe was a long term dream of the Rockford Rescue Mission's Executive Director, Sherry Pitney.  Through numerous donations, the Rockford community came together to build a cafe that will help move forward the vision and ideals of the Mission.  The cafe will offer training skills, work experience, and a source of funding for the Mission. The Restoration Cafe opens April 2009.  (Interview with Phyllis Johnson appears around 1:27 in video)