Poor Farmer

"In June, Ethiopia and Starbucks made a joint statement announcing their agreement concerning their long held dispute over ownership of coffee trademarks. How did this controversy arise, to start with? Is it really over? What can Ethiopia expect now? Despite the recent joint statement, some questions remain unanswered, argues SHLOMO BACHRACH, a United States (US)-based independent consultant who visits Ethiopia regularly. Mr. Bachrach, who was also a consultant for three years to the project that was meant to help Ethiopia gain its right over coffee trademarks, has a stunning revelation on the dispute." - Addis Fortune ----------------- The Starbucks Affair Shlomo Bachrach Addis Fortune July 09, 2007 During the past year, Ethiopia and Starbucks have been engaged in a controversial dispute. A successful public campaign against the global coffee giant highlighted Ethiopia's efforts to emerge from poverty while Starbucks enjoys huge profits from Ethiopia's coffees. Th...

By Wondwossen Mezlekia for The Ethiopian American * July 01, 2007 It was about a millennium ago that the legendary goat herder Kaldi discovered coffee in Kaffa, Ethiopia, according to substantiated folklore. Since then, the bean has traversed continents, transforming societies, religions, and economies while Ethiopia, the birthplace, watches. Today, coffee is the second most traded commodity on the international market next to oil, but unlike oil, coffee has not brought wealth to its country of origin. The aggressive tendency of globalization to deprive its weaker members from claiming their rightful share of the value chain has started to alarm global citizens. Ethiopia, too, has finally woken up just in time for its new millennium (Julian calendar), and is now sorting out intellectual property (IP) laws, which experts believe are promising tools to help the country catch up with the rest of the corporate world. The efforts to utilize IP tools for digging the country out of poverty, h...

"Some experts see the craze of following a product from “farm to fork” as a potential hindrance to free global trade, that could hurt developing countries." - Business Daily Africa The concept of traceability is intertwined in the Starbucks-Ethiopia coffee trademark agreement as well. Stay tuned for an assessment of the trademark dispute resolution and the threats “traceability” might pose to the success of the trademark project. ------------------------ West's Obsession With Origin Hurts Local Growers by Ole Turana Business Daily Africa, Kenya June 27, 2007 Kenya’s agricultural produce industry is losing millions of shillings in export earnings because overseas buyers are not paying premium prices. Kenyan exports, especially tea, coffee and horticultural products are under scrutiny as customers in the West query origin of produce. The issue of traceability has become a major factor in deciding prices paid for agricultural exports to the West, says Francis Stevens George,...

Coffee Politics Stands Down Surprise! Oxfam announced today that Starbucks and Ethiopia signed an agreement and that it ended the campaign against Starbucks. The organization’s press release reads: "Starbucks and Ethiopia signed a distribution, marketing and licensing agreement today that ends their trademark dispute and brings them together in partnership to help Ethiopian coffee farmers. International relief and development agency Oxfam welcomes the agreement that has the potential to give farmers a fairer share of the profits for their world-renowned coffee brands, Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe." I re-read the press releases issued by the parties involved including LYIP, Starbucks, Ethiopia, and Oxfam, but the vernacular is going over my head. For instance, what does “recognition of designations” and that the recognition includes “the license of certain trademarks” mean? All in all, I think the following two paragraphs hold the key to the agreement: “It provides a framewor...

The events scheduled for June 20, 2007 at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC and at the Ambassador’s residence are postponed. An electronic communication issued today by The Whitaker Group, a consultant to the Starbucks Coffee Company reads: “This is to inform you that the press event at the Ethiopian Embassy as well as the reception at the Ambassador’s residence, which were scheduled for this Wednesday, 20th June 2007, are postponed until later this summer due to scheduling difficulties.” On June 18, 2007, the Embassy invited unidentified number of people to attend a press event at the Embassy and a reception ceremony to celebrate what they called, “the ongoing collaboration between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the company in support of the Ethiopian coffee industry.” The long awaited licensing agreement deal is not mentioned in any of the announcements or invitations received by Coffee Politics. The postponement of the Embassy event and reception until an uns...

Senior representatives from Starbucks Corporation and the Ambassador of the government of Ethiopia to the US plan to announce on Wednesday June 20, 2007 what they called “the ongoing collaboration between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the company in support of the Ethiopian coffee industry” According to the Ambassador’s personal invitations sent to unidentified number of recipients, the announcement will be followed by a reception at the Ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC on the same day. The Reception Invitation reads: “His Excellency Dr. Samuel Assefa, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United States, cordially invites you to join him along with senior representatives from Starbucks Coffee Company at a reception celebrating the spirit of partnership between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the company in support of the Ethiopian coffee industry.” The invitations, copies of which have been received by Coffee Politics...

"They [the coffee farmers] were told that the price of coffee had dropped, even when it hadn't. The daily closing price of coffee was broadcast on national radio, but only 2 percent of 700,000 farmers had access to one. "Kettler hit upon the idea of bringing wind-up radios to farmers as a way to alleviate isolation of coffee co-ops, which often are made up of hundreds or thousands of farmers." I think this idea of providing Ethiopian coffee farmers with access to the radio waves should be a part of the implementation of the coffee trademark project. Unless the farmers are able to follow the price movement in the coffee market, they will continue to live at the mercy of the middlemen and exporters. Mr. Kettler's efforts need to be supported. What do you think? Send your ideas to me at poorfarmer@gmail.com ------------------ Aiding Growers: One Madison man sets out to link African coffee growers to the consumers DEBORAH ZIFF 608-252-6120 dziff@madison.com Madis...