The Hindu Business Line : Global coffee crisis threat to sustainable growth: ICO

THE goal of achieving the poverty reduction target adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000 is proving elusive because of the threat to sustainable development caused by the exodus from rural areas and increased poverty in coffee areas caused by the price crisis, according to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO).

In his submission to the World Summit on Sustainable Development taking place at Johannesburg, Mr Nestor Rosario, Executive Director of ICO, highlighted the fact that in many countries, levels of debt have increased and farmers have abandoned their farms or switched to alternative crops, in some cases to illicit crops.

Coffee growers in Mexico have died trying to enter the US illegally after abandoning their farms, and in India, indebted growers have been committing suicide, he pointed out. On the consumer side, poorer quality will follow in the wake of excessively low prices.

Mr Rosario renewed his call for action to resolve the crisis facing producing countries where rock bottom prices are causing immense hardship for the estimated 125 million people in producing countries who depend on coffee for their livelihood.

Prices on the world markets, which averaged around 120 cents per pound in the 1980s, are now around 50 cent per pound, the lowest in real terms for 100 years!

In September 2000, the UN Millennium Summit aimed at reducing the number of those living on less than $1 per day to half the 1990 level by the year 2015.

ICO has identified a number of measures to address the crisis through international cooperation, both on supply and demand sides. These include coffee quality improvement programme and promoting diversification and monitoring of production.

Coffee demand is sought to be promoted by elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers and promotion activity.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
New logo for Russian tea shipments

Downward tweak likely in palm oil

Aug vegoil imports put at 4.34 lakh t

Global coffee crisis threat to sustainable growth: ICO

Monsoon `catches up' in August — But deficit likely to remain