About Us

• Mission & Goals
• Overview
• Growers First Process
• Process Implementation
• Board

Growers First Inc.
P.O. Box 4227
Laguna Beach, CA 92652

Phone: 949.551.1085

Email: info@growersfirst.org

Typical Process Implementation

Phase One – 3 – 5 years

• Local growers are gathered, the Growers First process explained, and commitment to move forward is agreed upon. The commitment is that all growers will grow and aggregate the harvest which will provide several synergies in acquiring materials to grow the crops and eventually, provide greater selling power in the market.
• Funding and training is provided for the establishment of a growers’ cooperative based on the Growers First process to facilitate the synergies and share the costs and revenues from their collective farming efforts. Articles of governance are established and agreed upon.
• Agronomists are provided to train growers on methodologies that will produce crops that will lead to both the highest value product and the highest crop yield and revenue potential.
• Mobile medical/ dental clinics are funded and dispatched to area for free treatment, supplies and teaching of preventative practices.
• Organic specialists are provided to train new and existing growers on how to achieve organic certification through the use of natural, composted fertilizer and organic means of pest control
• Growers advised on how to improve crop potential while at the same time minimizing the environmental impact through use of organic materials, planting in forested areas, and avoiding soil erosion and toxic runoff.
• Commodities training is provided to enhance the growers’ knowledge about how the market works, what the buyers value in the products they select and how to maximize the price they can attain for their crops.
• Through Growers First contacts, relationships between potential buyers and the cooperative is established and higher margins achieved.
• Primary and adult education supplies and assistance provided

Benefits to the growers in phase one: In addition to improvements in their immediate health care and wellbeing, growers can achieve a 120% increase in the value of existing crops just by implementing the best practices that they are taught and achieving organic certification for their crops. Through the synergies provided by the cooperative, growers achieve an additional 135% improvement in margins.

Phase Two

• Micro-loans are facilitated for supplies, livestock, construction of co-op facilities, processing, solar dryers, etc
• Funding and training for the development of cooperative processing facilities and cooperative nurseries established.
• Leadership and governance training provided relative to business practices and how to most effectively manage the cooperative enterprises.
• Transportation vehicles supplied allowing villages to conduct business within regional markets
• Training and funding for animal husbandry provided where livestock is used to provide milk and other food sources as well as manure and byproducts used in composting organic fertilizer for crops.
• Seedlings distributed to growers. Intercropping and productive farm acreage is expanded
• Funding and training for village roasters provided which enables villages to sell packaged coffee in the local markets

Benefits to the growers in phase two: With the addition of the nursery and processing cooperatives, the growers participate in more facets of the value stream providing additional margins for themselves. This results in an additional 300% margin improvement. Implementing animal husbandry practices provides greater nutritional resources as well as a source of composting materials for organic fertilizer.