Why Alternatives?
The Coffee Crisis
Coffee farmers, and the communities they are a part of, are caught in a cycle of grinding poverty. In 2001, the price of coffee hit a 150 year low, in a collapse of the global coffee market many dubbed the “coffee crisis.” Prices remain below the cost of production for many small-scale farmers.
Four large corporations dominate the coffee industry; their profits are soaring, while farmers make less and less every year, prompting many to leave their communities or convert their diverse, forested farms to pasture. For many farmers, access to markets is key. For every dollar spent on coffee in the U.S., about five cents goes to the producer. CAN's Fairtrade direct system aims to cut out the middlemen, making ecological coffee production as kind to farm families as it is to the land.
Quick Facts:
On the conventional market coffee farmers were paid per pound: $2.30 in 1965; $4.30 in 1985; $2.30 in 1995 and $.98 in 2008 and approximatley $1.40 in 2010. To view historical data on coffee prices, click below.
Nestle controls 40% of the coffee industry.
Coffee plays an essential role in the livelihoods of poor people in approximately 50 developing countries. It is estimated that about 20 million households produce the crop, which is often the main–sometimes the only – source of cash income.
