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For many coffee growers, the inability to trade successfully is leaving a bitter after-taste.
Since 1997, the price of raw goods, like sugar, tea and coffee, has crashed.
Of course, we’re still paying the same price – up to US$30 per kilo for high quality coffee beans.
But for a US$2 cup of coffee we may buy in a café, it’s estimated that only two cents returns to the farmer who grew the beans. The grower is missing out.
Small farmers in developing countries are the most affected. In the past, they have been encouraged to grow cash crops on their tiny plots of land.
But they have not had direct access to markets for their products, and are reliant on middlemen and second-hand price information.
In the hills of Papua New Guinea, Abuso and his family tend their small farm of 1,000 arabica coffee trees each day.
They harvest, split and dry the beans themselves by hand, then take the beans to a market where they will sell to an exporter for around US$1.15 per kilo.
It’s not enough. Abuso’s neighbour has had to take his children out of school because he can’t afford the fees.
Malnutrition in the area is rife and food scarce because farmers concentrate on growing coffee, which they still hope will be a lucrative crop again one day.
The good news for farmers like Abuso is that the Fair Trade movement has arrived in Papua New Guinea.
Fair Trade, along with aid agencies like World Vision, assists communities to form co-operatives that can process and market their own coffee, charging a fair price and retaining more of the profits.
As the co-operatives grow in size and strength, local growers are empowered to earn a fair wage for their labour, contribute to the development of their own community and gain access to exclusive international markets.
It’s not just coffee that Asia has for sale. From community silk factories in northern Thailand, to improved rice trading in the Philippines, World Vision is helping communities to discover their true worth.
As well as helping some of Asia’s poorest people, it’s good news for consumers. By purchasing Fair Trade or other locally controlled products, we can sip our coffees with a clear conscience.
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