The study looked at prices paid between 2000 and 2018. It notes that the average price in Africa for Arabica coffee is 70.4 US cents ( 2,575 Shillings) per pound or half a kilogram when the price is 37.6 per cent higher in Latin America and 41.5 per cent higher in India.
A study of prices
of coffee in the international market has found that African farmers are
earning less money compared to producers in other jurisdictions like Brazil,
Colombia, and India.
The study
looked at prices paid between 2000 and 2018. It notes that the average price in
Africa for Arabica coffee is 70.4 US cents ( 2,575 Shillings)
per pound or half a kilogram when the price is 37.6 per cent higher in Latin America and
41.5 per cent higher in India.
The study
is done by Selina Wamucii, a Kenyan agricultural company and social enterprise that markets produce from
Africa’s smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and fishing communities.
“Farmers in
Colombia, India, and Brazil are getting higher prices on their crops
compared to African countries – Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo
and Cameroon,” researchers concluded after studying data from the International
Coffee Organization, which provides price trends for coffee exporting
economies.
For
instance, the study says, the price of “Brazil Naturals” coffee (a species of
Arabica) for farmers advanced by 37.6 per cent between 2000 and 2018 in Brazil when the rate for the same coffee in Ethiopia was only 25.3 per cent.
The study
also found that historical prices paid to farmers in Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, Togo,
Uganda and the Central African Republic) for Robusta coffee are mostly lower
compared to prices in Brazil and India.
The price
of Robusta is less than Arabica – 58.4 US cents (2,137 Shillings) per pound in
Africa. Prices in Latin America and India are higher, respectively at 78.5 US
cents (2,911 Shillings) and 67.4 US cents (2,469 Shillings).
“It can be
said that producers of Robusta beans in African countries are also struggling
with unfair prices, but the difference is lower compared to Arabica sector,” it
said.
Dr Ezra
Munyambonera, a research fellow at the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC),
said traditionally Robusta, grown mostly by African countries, has fetched low
prices because of its caffeine content. Robusta is also low volume globally and
is used as blends before re-exports.
//Cue in; “Robusta
coffee…
Cue out… lower
prices.”//
Some studies have
however, said that the pricing of coffee at the international market at times
depends on the quality.
Good quality
coffee earns a premium while the poor quality earns less. Coffee quality in some
countries, including Uganda is compromised at different stages in the
production chain. For instance, some farmers have been fond of harvesting raw
beans while others find difficulties in the drying of the beans.
