Global Governance + Global Systems (Case Study) The Global Coffee Trade Flashcards
Where does coffee grow?
In hot and wet areas close to equator for example South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.
Who are the biggest coffee producers?
Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.
What is the main type of coffee bean?
Arabica, which is grown in South America and eastern Africa, around 70% of world coffee trade.
What diseases are coffee plants susceptible to?
Bacterial blight and coffee leaf rust harm leaves and prevent growth. Coffee Berry Disease destroys beans within days. Bacterial blight easily spread in wet weather.
What insects and pests can affect coffee production?
Black Twig Borer tunnels into branches of coffee plants. Droughts make cicada more likely.
What are the statistics behind Brazil as a global coffee producer?
In 2015, Brazil exported around 20% of the world’s coffee. It has around 300,000 coffee farms and produces 2.5 million tonnes per year.
How much coffee does the USA import?
Imported around 20% of world’s coffee in 2015.
How did price fluctuations affect coffee farmers?
The amount of coffee exported from Vietnam has increased steadily since 1987. By 1999, Vietnam was exporting over 450 million kg of coffee per year, which caused the price to fall dramatically, from $1.19 per kg in January 2000 to $0.68 per kg by March 2001. Many South American coffee growers went out of business as they couldn’t afford to keep producing it at such a low price.
How much of the coffee price goes to producers?
Only around 7-10% of coffee bought in a supermarket goes to farmers as they sell low value, unprocessed bean. TNC’s buy the beans, roast them, increasing value and receive majority of profits.
How much control do TNC’s have over the global coffee trade?
The four companies of ECOM, Louis Dreyfus, Neumann and VOLCAFE control around 40% of global coffee exports.
What is a ‘race to the bottom’?
Coffee-producing countries compete with each other to cut wages, labour regulations and environmental protection in order to attract TNC’s. This can cause coffee farmers to go out of business or cause long-term damage to farmland. Much of the coffee in Brazil and Vietnam is farmed intensively as a monoculture, leading to loss of wildlife habitats and biodiversity.
What was set up to promote brands that support coffee farmers?
In 1992, the Fairtrade Foundation was set up.
What are the aims of the Fairtrade Foundation?
Setting the Fairtrade Minimum Price, which is the minimum price a coffee buyer has to pay producer organisation to cover farmers’s costs. This aims to prevent loss of business or poverty.
Why is Fairtrade successful in terms of consumers?
Customers know coffee is Fairtrade by the Fairtrade Mark on packets or menus.
How much growth has the Fairtrade coffee campaign experienced?
Fairtrade producer organisations grew from 175 in 2002, to 329 in 2011. Global sales of Fairtrade coffee grew from 15,000 tonnes to over 80,000 tonnes per year.
