Coffee Industry Essay

People usually drink coffee to stay up while awake at night, besides that many people rely on coffee to get their day started. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, â€Å"Drinking coffee can lead to a longer life†; however, many consumers have no idea of the impact of habits on their coffee and coffee farmers around the globe, ethical issues of consumers with the industry is not fair; but to coffee farmers, the issues are human rights violations and use of child labor issues need to be addressed. To remedy this situation, the fair trade will hopefully improve the living conditions of some of the poorest people in the world through certified value and the change in the consumer’s choice. Coffee is one of the most valuable commodities in the world, most of the farmers in the form of small retail and come from developing countries, although the majority of coffee sales are in the America and Europe many people around the world rely on coffee to work and have a better life; however, to producing quality coffee, farmers have to work very hard though farmers receive very little money and the inequity of the coffee producing companies when they sell coffee. Working conditions of farmers in the plantations are very different, although they work hard , but it paid for exploitation, for example , in Guatemala , coffee pickers to harvest 100 pounds to get the minimum wage $ 3 per day (The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee 2010),farmers have to work overtime and do not earn extra money, so farmers use child labor for the production of coffee to save money and use these chemicals effect of the human body in order for a fast development of coffee sale on the market. Moreover, using the chemicals and the development of the coffee industry adversely affect habitat and species decline. In addition, forests are cut down to coffee production affects the environment and soil erosion. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), â€Å"converting forest to tea and coffee agriculture can also create erosion and soil loss† (WWF 2010) ; yet the farmers have no choice and/or the opportunity to change. According to the International Coffee Organization or ICO â€Å"Coffee production in 2012 was 144 611 000 bags, mostly from less developed countries such as, Brazil 50 826 000 bags. Vietnam 22 000 000 bags and Indonesia 12 730 000 bags â€Å" (ICO 2013), though coffee production is highly ranked in the world, but farmers still do not get enough money to pay for life, for example, Vietnam in 2012, producing nearly 30 % of world coffee production but the turnover is only 10 % of the total trade value obtained from the global industry, the main reason is due to their ability to improve processing of value and coffee products are limited, coffee roasting plants in countries with rates lower than 10%, when farmers sells 1kg of coffee beans, farmers gets about 2 dollars or an average price of one cup of coffee oversea, yet 1 kg of coffee can make 50 cups. In addition, the links between farmers and enterprises are not strong, the lack of information on farmers markets, so farmers often extorted. Moreover, the risk of crop failure is the fear of the coffee growers. Most of the profits from coffee for export processing enterprises, coffee farmers only enjoy a small percentage. That has caused insecurity for farmers. Solution to this problem is the fair trade. According to Wikimedia, Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced and marketed to a stated set of standards. Many Customers pay a higher price when buying coffee with the certification logo or brand in the Belief Furniture , by doing so, they are helping farmers in the Third World . In particular, the fair trade coffee movement gives a reasonable price to the Farmers who were being a low – wage labor exploitation. However, achieve certification of fair trade, farmers must meet several conditions of production as farmers have to meet a large variety of production standards : there are limits on the use of child labor , pesticides , herbicides , genetically modified products , etc. With these standards met, both consumers and farmers can benefit, with farmers getting the sufficient amount of money for their products, and the consumers getting their product knowing it’s safe to consume and has no effect on the producers financially or ethnically. These farmers must cooperate with businesses to produce the certified products, such amounts received will be higher and the lives of the farmers would be better. In addition, consumers should choose certified products in the supermarket or the market as this will support and will be helpful for farmers. In conclusion, fair trading is the way for farmers and coffee producers to get a higher amount, and will change lives for the better. Therefore farmers should choose fair trade to ensure benefits and consumers should choose products that have been certified to support the farmers. Reference * The problem with Fair Trade Coffee. * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www. ssireview. org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee * Coffee Production and Labor * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www. organicconsumers. org/starbucks/coffeelabor. htm * Fair Trade Coffee * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Fair_trade_coffee * International Coffee Organization- EXPORTING COUNTRIES: TOTAL PRODUCTION * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www. ico. org/prices/po. htm * Health and effect of Coffee. * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee * Environmental Impacts of Coffee and Tea Production * Retrieved September 2, 2013 from http://www. hellogreentomorrow. com/blog/2010/11/environmental-impacts-of-coffee-and-tea-production.