Poor Farmer

Associated Press via Fox News May 31, 2012 MONTPELIER, Vt. –   After a quarter-century working to improve the lives of farmers in places like Latin America and Africa, the fair trade movement is at a crossroads. Will it expand its mission to include bigger players and a larger share of the markets in coffee, cocoa, bananas and other products? Or will it stay with its original purpose, empowering small farmers, often working through cooperatives, with higher prices for their crops and more clout in setting international trade practices? In Vermont, which has long prided itself on being home to companies that pursue both profits and a social mission, the question gained broad notice on May 20, when the fair trade policies of Waterbury-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters were targeted in a full-page ad in The Burlington Free Press. Bridgewater, Mass.-based Equal Exchange Inc., which markets fair trade coffee, chocolate and other products, called on Green Mount...

By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta Reuters May 28, 2012 BOGOTA   - Colombia, one of the world's top coffee exporters, could more than double production by the end of the decade if its drive to tap new markets such as Russia and   China   prove successful, said the head of the coffee federation. The world's top producer of high quality arabica beans aims to churn out a record 18 million bags for export by 2020 as it increases crop area and recovers output levels curbed by bad weather, fungus and a tree renovation program, federation chief Luis Genaro Munoz told Reuters. Coffee output slumped last year to a three decade low of 7.8 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) sacks. The last time Colombia produced close to Munoz's goal was in 1992 when it reached above 16 million sacks. Munoz, who expects production next year to hit 9 million sacks, is betting that young, affluent Chinese and Russian consumers will develop a taste for Colombian coffee, bolster...

By Susan Clotfelter The Denver Post May 27, 2012 Sarada Krishnan, director of horticulture at the Denver Botanic Gardens, holds coffee tree leaves she collected recently from a trip to South Sudan to study the DNA of the plants. ( Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post ) Coffee didn't alter the direction of Sarada Krishnan's life. It merely flowed through it. She was a year into her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado at Boulder, focusing on Prunus africana , an endangered tree in Madagascar. After a year of toil reviewing all the previous research, she found out the grant she'd been hoping would fund her project had been given to another scholar. "I was devastated," she said. "After a year of working on it, I had to completely start over." She opened a book, and a photograph fell out. It showed her late father, standing in the trees of her family's coffee plantation in the Wynad district of Kerala, an Indian state. "I ...

By Dave Gram The Associated Press via Bloomberg Businessweek MONTPELIER, VT. - Two stalwarts in the fair-trade coffee movement are at odds over a move by a national certifying organization to expand beyond small, farmer-owned cooperatives and allow larger growers to sell their product with a fair trade label. Equal Exchange in West Bridgewater, Mass., took out a full-page ad Sunday in The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press calling on Waterbury-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to sever relations with Fair Trade USA. Equal Exchange criticized Fair Trade USA for leaving an international umbrella group devoted to fair trade and for inviting larger coffee plantations into the fair trade fold. "With this move, they threaten to reverse decades of hard-won gains while potentially putting at risk the very survival of the farmer cooperatives," it said. FTUSA remains the dominant player in the U.S. in affixing a label to products as a signal to socially consc...

By Debiprasad Nayak The Wall Street Journal May 21, 2012 MUMBAI – An extended dry spell in India's main coffee growing regions has promoted the spread of a crop pest, which is threatening next marketing year’s output, industry executives said Monday. The white stem borer affects mainly arabica crops, which farmers uproot and destroy to prevent further spreading. Outbreaks spread quicker during prolonged periods of dryness. "The incidence of white stem borer was slightly lower [than normal] in the last three-four years. But this year it is about 25% higher than normal in most areas," Karnataka Planters Association Chairman Marvin Rodrigues said. The South Indian state of Karnataka is the country's largest coffee producer, accounting for 70% of national output. Its neighboring states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are also large producers. The fall in production isn't likely to buttress prices, as demand has been weak due to the sputtering glob...

By Liz Szabo USA TODAY May 16, 2012 Coffee lovers are a loyal crowd. Most pour out their morning cup of java for the flavor, the aroma, and the accompanying jolt of energy, rather than the health perks. So they may not mind if doctors debate new research suggesting that coffee lovers live longer. According to an article in today's  New England Journal of Medicine , those who drank coffee at the beginning of a 13-year study had a slightly lower risk of death than others, whether they chose decaf or full-strength. Coffee drinkers also were a little less likely to die from specific causes: heart disease, respiratory problems, strokes, injuries and accidents, diabetes and infections. Coffee offered no protection against cancer. Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day lowered the overall risk of death 10%, says the study, funded by the National Cancer Institute  and AARP. "It's interesting that coffee is more healthful than harmful," says...

By Peter Temba Tanzania Daily News May 15, 2012 Moshi — ENVIRONMENT, Human Rights Care and Gender Organization (ENVIROCARE) has established a project with the aim of enabling coffee growers and their families to actively participate in environmental conservation through organic farming. The project dubbed "Improved Rural Livelihoods and Economic Empowerment for Small-scale Coffee Farmers through A Quality Management System in Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region" targets 4,016 cooperative coffee farmers and their families. According to the Project Manager, Ms Grace Murunji, if the project succeeds then poverty and environmental degradation will be reduced through adoption of organic farming practices by next year. She said that by next year, project beneficiaries, namely Ushiri, Keryo, Mrao and Kirwa-Keni Rural Cooperative Societies will have increased average coffee yields per tree from the current one to two kilogrammes, increase premium grades of coff...

Demotions rock coffee firm Wall Street Journal May 8, 2012 Green Mountain Coffee Roasters demoted its founder and chairman, Robert Stiller, and its lead director, William Davis, after the high-flying coffee company's share-price plunge forced the men into emergency stock sales resulting from margin calls. Mr. Stiller sold 5 million shares of Green Mountain stock for $123.4 million on Monday, reducing his stake to 5.4% from nearly 10% in March. The company said Mr. Stiller—who founded Green Mountain in 1981 as a small cafe in Vermont—will remain on the board but no longer as chairman. Mr. Davis will be stripped of his lead director position but will stay on the ... More at WSJ (Subscription required) ---- The Precipitous Decline Of Green Mountain Coffee's Founder's Fortune Forbes May 8, 2012 More trouble has been brewing for Green Mountain Coffee  and its founder, former billionaire   Robert Stiller .  The company disclosed that St...