Poor Farmer

Few days ago, I posted highlights of Oxfam's call for public action under Starbucks: Honor Your Commitments to Ethiopian Coffee Farmers . The first comment on this came from Starbucks. The comment posted by a writer who preferred to remain anonymous (have you ever read a name when the company comments?) reads: I recommend you visit www.starbucks.com to see what this company does do to support farmers in every country they buy from. All of this bad press is false. December 14, 2006 2:58:00 PM PST At the time, I appreciated Starbucks' response and encouraged everyone to discuss on how to let the Ethiopian coffee farmers benefit from owning the trademarks of their own coffee names. Well, Shayna has a response: Starbucks has taken some good steps, but it can do better. Recognizing Ethiopia’s rights to its coffee names would complement these efforts. Starbucks has made positive contributions to coffee-growing communities, but now that Ethiopia is proposing a long-term poverty solut...

Given the current government's repeated violation of law and order even in terms of the constitution it wrote, its tarnished human rights records, and attempts to silence the public in every way possible including repression and war, the role it plays in such initiatives is rightly questionable. Also, the current marketing system in the country is skewed towards favoring government affiliated middlemen and exporters more than the poor farmers. My upcoming post will discuss this topic in further depth and attempt to explain or suggest systems that will reinforce the farmers' opportunity to directly benefit from this and other projects.