Poor Farmer

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...

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...