Post by ifayomi on Dec 27, 2006 17:03:58 GMT -5
Over the holidays I had a chance to watch this insightful documentary (Black Gold) about commodity marketing and the raw deal the farmers get; it is a painful reality where middlemen make all the money while farmers get a pittance from their toil and sweat. And as the middlemen get rich on others' sweat, the same farmers cannot afford fees for their children's schooling, health care for themselves and their families and (as happens in many cases) food when famine strikes! And when famine strikes, they become the target of food aid (remember that saying about giving people fish!) and international "do goodwill" that leaves them worse than they were before.
A kilo of coffee, example yields more than 30 cups of coffee @ $1.00 per cup = $30/kilo at retail outlets. Yet the farmer gets only a fraction of this in cents per kilo! Pure exploitation!
Developing countries, in general, and African countries, in particular, have been asking for fair trade as opposed to aid; they want fair access to the western markets to allow (say) for direct marketing by farmers' cooperatives, bypassing middlemen. They want removal of subsidies to ensure a level playing field when goods get to market. Yet western countries where commodity exchanges are run, have been reluctant to allow such access. This is the bane of the World Trade Organization and its failure to offer a playing field for developing countries in market access. Today, western countries have unfettered access to developing countries' markets; western countries need and must be pushed to reciprocate.
In the middle of all this stand the transnational corporations like Nestle Foods that profit from the misery of farmers in developing countries while squeezing out efforts by those attempting to cultivate alternative channels for their produce.
What alternatives exist?
Awareness is the key: consumers (aren't we all) need to understand that when they buy from Starbucks and Nestle, etc. they are perpetuating the misery of farmers in developing countries. Consumer support for "fair trade" goods is key and their consumption of these will enhance the livelihood of those that do primary production; it is humane and serves to make this a better world.
Read on and take action. As we say in Kiswahili: kidogo kidogo hujaza kibaba - every little action counts!
And Happy New Year!
Matunda Nyanchama
Black Gold: Wake up and smell the coffee
Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.
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Matunda Nyanchama, e-mail: matunda@hotmail. com
Visit: www.aganoconsulting .com - for business information
Coming Soon: www.africa-oped. org portal
Click here for International Scholarship Info
A kilo of coffee, example yields more than 30 cups of coffee @ $1.00 per cup = $30/kilo at retail outlets. Yet the farmer gets only a fraction of this in cents per kilo! Pure exploitation!
Developing countries, in general, and African countries, in particular, have been asking for fair trade as opposed to aid; they want fair access to the western markets to allow (say) for direct marketing by farmers' cooperatives, bypassing middlemen. They want removal of subsidies to ensure a level playing field when goods get to market. Yet western countries where commodity exchanges are run, have been reluctant to allow such access. This is the bane of the World Trade Organization and its failure to offer a playing field for developing countries in market access. Today, western countries have unfettered access to developing countries' markets; western countries need and must be pushed to reciprocate.
In the middle of all this stand the transnational corporations like Nestle Foods that profit from the misery of farmers in developing countries while squeezing out efforts by those attempting to cultivate alternative channels for their produce.
What alternatives exist?
Awareness is the key: consumers (aren't we all) need to understand that when they buy from Starbucks and Nestle, etc. they are perpetuating the misery of farmers in developing countries. Consumer support for "fair trade" goods is key and their consumption of these will enhance the livelihood of those that do primary production; it is humane and serves to make this a better world.
Read on and take action. As we say in Kiswahili: kidogo kidogo hujaza kibaba - every little action counts!
And Happy New Year!
Matunda Nyanchama
Black Gold: Wake up and smell the coffee
Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Matunda Nyanchama, e-mail: matunda@hotmail. com
Visit: www.aganoconsulting .com - for business information
Coming Soon: www.africa-oped. org portal
Click here for International Scholarship Info