One source of hope [for poor coffee farmers]: the increasing number of programs that help growers get higher prices for their beans if they show that they are protecting the environment, investing in community projects and treating workers well...N.G.O.’s certify coffee that meets their standards, banking on the notion that consumers will pay higher prices for coffee produced with concern for workers and the environment. They believe that, in turn, will drive up the price that companies are willing to pay the farmers. [One local] cooperative sells to Starbucks, which has a similar in-house program... The rush to certify coffee is now drawing an expanding list of players, including giant plantations and multinational traders [such as Agroindustrias Unidas (AMSA - part of ECOM Agroindustrial)] ... Pioneers in the certified coffee movement [such as Equal Exchange] watch the changes with wary approval... But as the certification programs spread, they are drawing large plantations, or fincas [such as Rancho Custepec], to join, raising worries among small-scale producers who fear they will lose their advantage as the original suppliers... But for all the benefits of certified coffee, the plans have barely begun to blunt the acute poverty in Chiapas...