Poor Farmer

By Isis Almeida Bloomberg News June 28, 2012 Arabica coffee prices will be higher in nine months to a year because of low stockpiles, spurring investors who are expecting lower prices to reverse those bets, according to INTL FCStone Ltd. Hedge funds and other money managers were net short, or betting on lower prices, by 12,105 futures and options as of June 19, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Arabica coffee prices have dropped 28 percent this year because of record production in Brazil, the world’s largest grower. Stockpiles by Sept. 30 will be 24.1 million bags, the lowest since Sept. 30. 2001, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. “It looks to us at this point that the short position will be covered,” Stephen Pollard, a senior vice president at INTL FCStone (Europe) Ltd., said at a conference in Geneva today. “We are really struggling to see where the sales are going to come from, who is going to sell to the funds when they start buying.” I...

The Associated Press via CBS News June 25, 2012 HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Monday he plans to veto a bill that would remove mandatory certification for Hawaii-grown coffee, a measure Kona coffee farmers said would be disastrous for the industry's integrity and reputation. Abercrombie listed the bill as one of 19 he is considering vetoing from the 2012 legislative session. Some of the bills are still under consideration, he said. Kona coffee farmers who were against the certification repeal from the start welcomed the veto. The certification helps them fight against lesser-quality products, they said. "The implications of this measure are problematic," Abercrombie said. "Further discussion is needed to ensure that the Hawaii brand will not be undermined." Lawmakers passed the law as a measure to help a staffing shortage at the state Department of Agriculture, an agency that's eliminated all but one inspector on the ...

Note from Wondwossen: Ethiopia's government's lack of decency has reached a new low, thanks to the rulers' addiction to food aid. The government and ECX have now shamelessly resorted to monetizing the food aid that was meant for the destitute and hunger-stricken millions of Ethiopians. The government and ECX are in discussion "to sell surplus food aid to improve the country's electricity supply." In other words, they want to snatch the food aid from the dying souls to fund electricity projects, such as the one that they call the "Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam" project. This is shameful, outrageous, and immoral. First, it is a hoax to state that there is surplus food aid in Ethiopia while more than 15 million people are starving and millions more are barely making ends meet. If there is demand for the food aid that the government is going to sell, then what we have there is scarcity, not surplus. On the flip side, if there is surplus, t...

By William Davison Bloomberg June 21, 2012 June 21 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia Commodity Exchange Chief Executive Officer Eleni Z. Gabre-Madhin will step down on Sept. 30, the ECX said. She will be replaced by Anteneh Assefa from Bank of Abyssinia, who joins on Aug. 1, the Addis Ababa-based exchange said in a statement today. --- To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa at +44-20-7330-7500 or wdavison3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hilton Shone at +27-11-286-1928 or hshone@bloomberg.net

Where is Ethiopia’s Farmer Support Center? Wondwossen Mezlekia June 19, 2012 Farmer Gemede Roba was the icon of Oxfam's  campaign  during the Starbucks-Ethiopia coffee trademark dispute.  He lives in the Borena zone of  the Oromia  region,  one of the many coffee  growing  zones in Ethiopia.  (Photo: Courtesy of Oxfam America) In June 2007, as the coffee trademark dispute between Starbucks and the government of Ethiopia concluded behind closed doors, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz made a public statement promising to open a regional Farmer Support Center in Addis Ababa. Three years later in May 2010, I asked the company if it will fulfill its promises and open the Farmer Support Center in Ethiopia.  In an email response Starbucks said: “While we had originally planned for the Ethiopian branch to open soon after [the opening of the Starbucks East Africa Regional Farmer Support Center in Kigali, Rwanda]...

By Alexandra Wexler The Wall Street Journal June 18, 2012 A worker selects beans at a farm east of São Paulo. Photo: Courtesy of Reuters via WSJ Arabica coffee futures fell to a fresh two-year intraday low Monday as the market continues to retreat in the face of a projected record harvest from top producer Brazil. ICE coffee futures have tumbled 15% over the last month as analysts have predicted a Brazilian crop as big as 60 million 132-pound bags. Rains have slowed the harvesting of beans and delayed confirmation of the crop's size. However, hedge funds and other speculators continue to bet on a glut of supply from Brazil. "Everybody seems to be in love with the Brazil crop," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Price Futures Group. "They just keep selling because it keeps working." In the week ending June 12, speculative investors in arabica added 770 short positions, or bets that prices would fall, making speculators net-s...

ADVISORY for coffee buyers travelling to Ethiopia   - Wondwossen ---- A new law makes it a crime to engage in audio or video communications over the Internet By Christine Roberts New York Daily News June 17, 2012 The country's government has passed a new law that makes it a crime to engage in audio or video communications using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services such as Skype, Google Talk and most other video chat platforms,  according to Al Jazeera . Anyone who makes a phone call over the Internet reportedly faces a three to eight year prison sentence and heavy fines thanks to the May 24 legislation. The punishment for using an official Internet calling service such as Skype is even stronger, with violators facing a potential 15 years in jail,  the African Review reports . The government claims the law was passed in order to strengthen national security,  according to Reporters Without Borders . Ambroise Pierre, head o...

By Peter Temba Daily News June 17, 2012 Moshi — The amended Tanzania Coffee Industry, Development Strategy 2011-2021 has indicated possible changes and might have a general socio-economic impact on the industry. The Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) Director General, Eng. Adolph Kumburu told the 'Sunday News' in an exclusive interview that the following scenarios show that if the coffee strategy, which was recently approved by key coffee stakeholders was implemented, it would bring in additional revenue. He added that at least more than 150 million US dollars will be realized in 10 consecutive years through export earnings. Eng. Kumburu explained that of the total 250 million dollars generated annually by the coffee industry, 75 per cent of the income would be redistributed to coffee farmers. "This will almost double the previous income, which is more than 95 per cent for an estimated 400,000 households. It will help to reduce poverty and create a sustain...

Marcy Nicholson Reuters June 11, 2012 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Coffee roasters quietly pulled off a financial feat last year that went unnoticed by most customers: Adding a higher proportion of cheaper, lower-grade robusta to their grounds as the price of top-notch arabica beans surged. As new data reveals the surprising extent of that substitution, which appears to have been far more widespread than experts had thought possible, the industry faces a vexing question: As the price premium for arabica beans returns to historically normal levels, will roasters switch back? The short answer seems to be no. The "swing" in demand was surprisingly decisive and swift. U.S. robusta imports rose by almost 80 percent in the first quarter of this year versus a year ago, while arabica fell by close to a third, International Coffee Organization data shows, likely reflecting purchases made during last year's rally. "What we're realizing is that everybody ...

By Mugni Jacob Tanzania Daily News June 18, 2012 Coffee farmers in Tarime District, Mara region have every reason to smile because they can now get any amount of money they want, thanks to the National Microfinance Bank (NMB) for introducing Warehouse Receipt System of Financing (WHRF). WHRF enables farmers to use coffee as collateral to get part of their payment from the bank pending good prices of the cash crop. So far there are 10 Agriculture Marketing Cooperatives Societies (AMCOS) line up to benefit from the bank system during this year's coffee buying season that runs from May to March next year. Each society has an average of 300 members engaging in coffee farming activities in different rural villages of the Northern Tarime District, Mara Region. "This is a good system because it helps a farmer to sell coffee at the auction, hence enjoy the highest price offered by the world market ", Secretary of Bungerere Agriculture Marketing Cooperative...

By The Africa Report June 4, 2012 Ethiopia's coffee export fell by almost half, way short of the government's projection for this year. The government had projected $1.1 billion dollar revenue from coffee beans, but with only a month to go before the end of the fiscal year, the country has only managed to earn about $505.6 million from coffee exports. Coffee exporters have complained that the budget was complicated and affected their trade. They have also complained about the quality of the coffee. "Coffee was exported by mass without taking into consideration its quality and geographical aspects. This affects our coffee exports in the budget year. "This is a serious problem that needs urgent action by the concerned bodies," a coffee exporters' body said. The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade is expected to call for an emergency meeting with the coffee exporters soon to thrash out issues affecting the sector. "There is a disco...