jueves, 8 de mayo de 2014

More money for small farmers.

When shopping for food, ever more consumers in rich nations pay attention not only to prices, appearance an flavour. They also consider environmental and social aspects. Therefore, certifications of organic production fair-trade practices or regional origin often lead to a premium in the marketplace and can benefit small-scale farmers. Two recent research papers from the Kiel Institute for the Wold Economy Shed Light on the matter. They deal with pineapple growers in Ghana and coffee producers in Ethiopia.

Researchers in Kiel have analysed the prices of Ethiopian coffee on export  markets to see whether the initiative had an impact. Higher export prices are the first step towards securing higher incomes for producers. The data provided by the Ethiopian Customs Authority on amounts, prices, origin, certification status and quality of all coffee exports  from 2004 to 2009 showed that the prices of the registered brands increased by around 10% more than those of other coffee varieties (see chart). The increase, moreover, was eflected in higher producer prices in the three regions concerned. The strategy worked out.

These examples from Ghana and Ethiopia show that strategies that build on sonsumer trends in rich nations make sense. They can help to boost the incomes of rural people and protect their natural environment.

Vol. 30.2011:2                    D+C Develpment and cooperation


1 comentario:

  1. Dear María Antonieta, I did not know that you were interested in family economies, "small scale" farmers. I do not much about that stuff in Afrika, but in Nicaragua there are honey production friendly with the environment, they are taking care of the bees and with and a high quality in the product, they are selling it to the European Union. Very interesting.

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