Poor Farmer

Addis Fortune November 06, 2017 Wondimagegnehu Negera, the newly elected CEO of ECX, former president of Cooperative Bank of Oromia. The Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX) gets its thrid Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since its founadation in 2008. Wondimagegnehu Negera, former president of the Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO), has been appointed today by the Board of Directors of the ECX as a new chief, replacing Ermias Eshetu. Ermias had served the Exchange for two and half years before he resigned two months ago, citing personal reasons. Belay Gorfu has been filling in as Acting CEO during the transition. Wondimagegnehu, who has over two decades of experience in the banking industry, has been working as head of the Oromia Regional Trade & Market Development Bureau for the past one year. He had served the CBO for four years as president until he was dismissed by the central bank on September, 20...

By Luis F. Samper and Xiomara F. Quiñones-Ruiz Source: MDPI - Publisher of Open Access Journals CONCLUSION The debate over how to best achieve sustainability in general and in the coffee industry in particular is wide open. The coffee industry has been the leader in implementing VSS, influencing other industries along the way. Certainly, literature shows that positive effects have been identified since VSS started. However, the time has come to re-evaluate the current model, not with the objective of doing away with what it has achieved, but to look for new ways to approach sustainability and obtain a bigger and wider effect that more closely reflects the complex reality of coffee growing. Available studies show that impact of the current model varies according to the specific context. There is no “silver bullet” standard to improve sustainability indicators. Furthermore, VSS has not altered the value chain governance. In addition, it appears that VSS will have difficul...

ECX Boss Resigns By Dawit Taye The Ethiopian Reporter September 01, 2017 Ermias Eshetu, the CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), has tendered his resignation letter to the board of directors of the trading enterprise. The resignation of Ermias stunned many as it came at a time when the CEO was attempting to restructure ECX and introduce new trading services and working procedures. Though the resignation of the CEO is not yet made public reliable sources told  The Reporter  that the board of directors of ECX is holding an in-depth evaluation on the executive management including the CEO. Sources said the rigorous evaluation has prompted the CEO to leave his position. According to sources, the board of directors of ECX has accepted the resignation letter of the CEO. However, Ermias would stay in office until the board finds a successor. According to sources, the stringent evaluation held last week lasted until 5PM in the evening. “The evaluation dwel...

-- Africa became a niche producer as Vietnam, Brazil expanded -- Urbanization, staple crops a threat to African arabica output By Innocent Anguyo and Isis Almeida Bloomberg Markets August 2, 2017          Julien Ochala can’t live without his morning cup of Joe. But not just any coffee will do. For the past five years, the 37-year-old physiology lecturer at King’s College London has visited the same store every week to grab a pack of his beloved Kenyan brew. And he’s not put off by the cost: at 37 pounds a kilogram ($22 a pound), it’s more than double a similar supermarket product. "I take Kenyan coffee every morning," said Ochala, who buys his beans from  Monmouth Coffee Company  in Borough Market. "I love it because of the relatively higher acidity level. It keeps me active in the afternoons." Customers willing to pay a premium for African brews, known for their floral, fruity flavors, are driving pu...

Not as transformative as its founders hoped The Economist Feb 4th 2017 |  ADDIS ABABA ON THE walls of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) in Addis Ababa, the capital, hang glossy black-and-white photographs of provincial market towns and rustic life. For the merchants and brokers striding across its high-tech trading floor they serve as a reminder that the ECX, sub-Saharan Africa’s most modern commodity exchange outside Johannesburg, exists for a simple, practical purpose: to transform Ethiopian agriculture. It has some way to go. By connecting smallholder farmers to global markets, the exchange, launched with a fanfare in 2008, was supposed to help reduce hunger. The hope was it would reduce price volatility and incentivise farmers to plant crops. But staple foods such as haricot beans today account for less than 10% of its trade. Its annual turnover—worth about $1bn—is dominated instead by two export crops, coffee and sesame seeds. In 2015, despite a dir...