BLACK GOLD [RICH NATIONS EXPLOIT THE COFFEE TRADE TO KEEP THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN POVERTY]

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Jul 18th, 2010 by Coffee Lover

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world’s coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Duration : 1:17:9

Technorati Tags: AFRICAN, AGREEMENT, AGRICULTURAL, aid, ASDA, au, black, cafe, cappuccino, charity, coffee farmers, coffee fields, coffee trade, commodity traders, COMMON, day, DESTRUCTION, DEVELPOMENT, dollar, Doppio, east, espresso, Ethiopia, EUROPE, EUROPEAN, EXPLOITATION, EXTORTION, for, free, GDP, GENOCIDE, GOLD, HANDOUTS, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST, IMPERIALISM, INEQUALITY, it, KENCO, lait, LINE, make, mocha, MULTINATIONAL, NEGRO, nestle, NIGGA, NIGGERS, One, ORGANISATION, POLICY, poverty, quality coffee beans, RACE, RACIAL, RACIST, REPUBLIC, Ristretto, ROBBERY, SCAMBLE, shop, SLAVERY, SOCIAL, Starbucks, trade, UNILATERAL, WAGE, WALMART, White, world, world trade organisation, WTO

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Tags: AFRICAN, AGREEMENT, AGRICULTURAL, aid, ASDA, au, black, cafe, cappuccino, charity, coffee farmers, coffee fields, coffee trade, commodity traders, COMMON, day, DESTRUCTION, DEVELPOMENT, dollar, Doppio, east, espresso, Ethiopia, EUROPE, EUROPEAN, EXPLOITATION, EXTORTION, for, free, GDP, GENOCIDE, GOLD, HANDOUTS, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST, IMPERIALISM, INEQUALITY, it, KENCO, lait, LINE, make, mocha, MULTINATIONAL, NEGRO, nestle, NIGGA, NIGGERS, One, ORGANISATION, POLICY, poverty, quality coffee beans, RACE, RACIAL, RACIST, REPUBLIC, Ristretto, ROBBERY, SCAMBLE, shop, SLAVERY, SOCIAL, Starbucks, trade, UNILATERAL, WAGE, WALMART, White, world, world trade organisation, WTO

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14 Responses to “BLACK GOLD [RICH NATIONS EXPLOIT THE COFFEE TRADE TO KEEP THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN POVERTY]”

on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am1melatiaetrade

UNBELIEVABLE! [I ...
UNBELIEVABLE! [I CALL THIS CALLOUS SELFISHNESS AND INSENSITIVITY TO "OUR" HUMANITY] WORDS CANNOT EXPLAIN THIS. DON”T WE LIVE ON THE SAME PLANET?
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am2hacktanyshi

Really big …
Really big co-operation like starbuck,Nestle etc is sucking the Afriacan’s people’s blood out.
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am3gordo2456

Amazing documentary …
Amazing documentary, I’m gonna make my world issues teacher show this. A real eye opener
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am4Kili225

please help me
i am …
please help me
i am a french speaker studying english and i have this video for my final exam
i really need to find subtitle of this video in english to help me understand some part
thanks
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am5BonesRodriguez

Thank you for …
Thank you for making this available! I watched the whole thing, and hope more people do too!
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am6bfq3000

An interesting film …
An interesting film, but it failed to address the most important question. The price of the Coffee “C” contract is about $3 per kilo right now (btw, Ethiopian coffee is not among the 19 countries that qualify for this contract, so it would likely sell at a discount to this price). The farmers say they get $0.23 if they are lucky. So who is getting the 90%+ cut before the beans even hit the market where the roasters purchase them? [1 of 3]
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am7bfq3000

Coffee is …
Coffee is overproduced, especially since Vietnam emerged as such a powerhouse. I agree that 1st world countries subsidizing agriculture is an abomination, but that isn’t really relevant to coffee (since none of it is grown there). [3 of 3]
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am8bfq3000

Is this …
Is this exploitation by local exporters? What are transportation costs, etc.? And what price are the specialty “fair trade” roasters paying? While it’s true that roasters and retail coffee sellers have obnoxious markups (we should be paying less than 50 cents for a cup of coffee), they have no impact on the supply and little impact on the demand of the commodity itself. [2 of 3]
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am9forwardunity

@TheNessaVanessa

…
@TheNessaVanessa

Gasp indeed
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am10forwardunity

@KILLcolorstruck
…
@KILLcolorstruck
hmmmm
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am11forwardunity

When I hear ppl …
When I hear ppl talk about “making poverty history”, I wonder whether they have tried to look at the bigger picture. Many ppl are unaware of how multinational corporations continue to take advantage of developing countrie’s resouces and manipuate the prices of commodities for their own personal gain.
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am12seanmaley

This film shows how …
This film shows how farmers AND consumers lose out when monopolistic buyers of coffee (the food giants) can keep bean prices down but coffee retail prices high.
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am13KILLcolorstruck

hmmm
hmmm
on 18 Jul 2010 at 7:59 am14TheNessaVanessa

wow. *gasps*
wow. *gasps*

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