Poor Farmer

The article below is good news and a positive sign that ECX is attempting to accommodate Specialty coffee trading on its platform. It should be noted, however, that the change that is publicized in the news article only addresses the quality aspect of the Specialty coffee trade requirements. Meaning, the coffees traded as Specialty coffee are termed as such only because the beans had met the minimum quality criteria set by the SCAA. Currently, single origin coffee trade is not supported by ECX's system as ECX is not ready to ensure traceability of coffee beans to origins. Officials at ECX mentioned that they are still working on what is termed "the second window" which will accomodate the trading of all Specialty coffees. Another observation in the news article is that it does not mention whether ECX's trading of the Specialty coffee had fetched premium prices to the country, exporters, or coffee growers. Were the closing prices for the Specialty coffee higher tha...

After all, the Ethiopia coffee trademark initiative is alive although the project appears to have run out of steam due mainly to bureaucracy and lack of leadership from the government's side. I am one of the strong proponents of the idea of utilizing Intellectual Property resources as a leverage to demand for a fair share from the retail prices of the finest coffee brands. I want and hope to see Ethiopia's impoverished coffee farmers start benefiting from the world renowned brands, which are the results of the farmers' hard work. This dream was recently overshadowed by the unexpected twist of events that happened in the country following the establishment of the ECX. For one, it has been difficult to comprehend how the country can pursue a forward-looking brilliant marketing strategies while looking backwards and resort to bundling brand name coffee lots with commodities. To me, the very idea of capitalizing on the coffee IP resources is essentially a departure from the sta...

"You are entitled to your opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts." - Late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan November 4, 2009 The recent article by Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder and CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), titled “ Will The Real Poor Farmer Rise ” and first posted on nazret.com is a praiseworthy contribution to a serious public dialogue on matters of national interest. It is also courageous for a prominent figure who supports the government of Ethiopia to opt to engage in civil dialogue about complex issues in the public domain. This being a new phenomenon in Ethiopia, inability to draw a line between a personal capacity and an official capacity is totally understandable; although, the bar might be higher for individuals who grew up in a society where public dialogues and opinions are at the central core of democracy and who are rather expected to be models of democratic and civil communication, the lack of which has left the whole Afri...