Background
The path to the Producer Crossover began in 2016 when Lennart Clerkx, founder of This Side Up, created a WhatsApp group including all the producers from our network. The original idea was to facilitate a forum that could help farmers communicate. This virtual exchange allowed producers to access an international network for the first time, and the response was highly positive. It quickly became clear that farmers had a lot of valuable knowledge to share and that our role was to support this to happen.
The event crystallised into the first Producer Crossover in 2018. This gradual development led our network of partners to have in-depth conversations, with us becoming the “facilitator” of such conversations. After these experiences, it became clear that most of the exchange, the main reason for holding the gatherings, happened in the breaks! Therefore, in 2022 we created a gathering without keynote speakers, 100% exchange and discussion, moderated. More voices were heard and ideas cross-pollinated.
The future of the Crossover is bright. More and more producers stay in touch with each other, roasters and development professionals start projects in origin… We are up for the challenge to create more events, both virtual and in the flesh!
Attendees at the Producer Crossover in Berlín, in 2019, gather and talk after the event.
“Look at how far you’ve come from 2018 to now.
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“We got more ideas from fifteen minutes drinking beer with the world at one table - than from a year of online interactions.”
Future Steps.
To ignite this community more by consolidating it in the best possible way, according to everyone's needs, interests and resources.
Make each Xover event stronger, tighter and more specific by gradually developing the conversations that concern us all.
To evaluate, within our community, the interest to develop the projects that came out from the Regenerative Agriculture Crossover gathering. These are the projects:
Ideas that SPROUTED IN MIlan.
1. Communication Cooperative
Create a communication platform that spreads the word and practices on regenerative farming. In this space, everyone on the coffee value chain is represented, everyone is heard: all needs are met. Everyone participates and feels included because the language is accessible for everyone.
2. Risk Sharing
This will be a platform that connects roasters and farmers by ways of experimentation. A financial network of supporters will allow farmers to create the experiments designed by the roasters, without them taking any risks.
3. Regen Coffee, back to nature
Prove how agroforestry grown coffee can offer a new scope over organic coffee. Prove how agroforestry can offer a better cup.
4. The Forest Unit
Design a step by step process that promotes agroforestry practices, motivated by financial incentives. This will be shared amongst neighbouring farmers to motivate them to switch certain practices.
5. Relationships between Roasters and Producers/ Link agroforestry with financial development
Roasters and producers experimenting together by developing an agroforestry project. By creating a baseline that enables the producers to evaluate how things were before and after the project, farmers will be able to measure what’s happening for themselves.
6. Demonstration plot
By creating a community plot where farmers can communicate and experiment with regenerative farming, farm leaders will promote the benefits of agroforestry practices.
7. Self-Sustaining farm, everything that a farmer needs is in his/her farm
How to integrate other crops and animals? How do we deal with erosion? How would we regenerate the soil and retain water? How to increase knowledge? How are we going to communicate with the farmers? with the buyers?
“At other conferences they never ask us what we really need. They just ask what THEY really want.””