Mugged (e-book) (used book) | Charis Gresser | bookbook.eu

Description

There is a crisis destroying the livelihoods of 25 million coffee producers around the world. The price of coffee has fallen by almost 50 per cent in the past three years to a 30-year low. Farmers sell at a heavy loss while branded coffee sells at a hefty profit. The coffee crisis has become a development disaster whose impacts will be felt for a long time. Families dependent on the money generated by coffee are pulling their children, especially girls, out of school. They can no longer afford basic medicines, and are cutting back on food. Beyond farming families, coffee traders are going out of business. National economies are suffering and some banks are collapsing. Government funds are being squeezed dry, putting pressure on health and education and forcing governments further into debt. The scale of the solution needs to be commensurate with the scale of the crisis. Oxfam is calling for a Coffee Rescue Plan to make the coffee market work for the poor as well as the rich. The plan needs to bring together the major players in coffee to overcome the current crisis and create a more stable market. This accessible report, with illustrations and many visual aids, outlines the extent of the crisis in the coffee market and the reasons behind it, and presents a strategy for action.

Intensive farming techniques reduce quality and degrade the land

No alternatives: declining commodities and the failure of rural development

Lack of alternatives to coffee as a cash crop

Depending on declining commodities

Too little value captured

Failure to deliver on rural development

Inadequate regulation

Farmers' and workers' organisation under attack

Scarce information

Too little training and support

Bad loans, no new credit

Weak rural infastructure

Declining aid and double standards: farmers betrayed by the donors

3. Niche markets - an escape route? Not for all

Fair Trade: a glimmer of hope

Specialty brands capturing high value

Running for the same exit?

No grounds for inertia

4.Getting out of crisis: a strategy for action

Restore the balance of supply and demand

Restore quality and raise productivity

Raise prices, revive livelihoods

Retain and build value-adding capacity

Establish real alternatives for rural development

Conclusion

Recommendations: A Coffee Rescue Plan

Notes

Background research

Oxfam's work with coffee producers

Oxfam International contact details.