Colombia coffee producer take on importer rol

[Andres Castro]

The title may not impress you because many coffee importer countries are used to bringing in coffee from abroad. In Colombia, this trend started nearly five years ago. Weather conditions, changes in coffee farms (stumping or replanting) and low prices have diminished the country’s capacity to produce coffee.

Colombia has imported 450,000 bags of green coffee to supply the local roaster industry in 2005 alone. Moreover, around 10% of the national production is for local consumption and is mostly low-grade quality coffee. This has been a steady trend.

The coffee that comes from abroad is mainly from neighboring countries such as Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. Last year, the total value of imported coffee reached a value of $20 million (USD).

The National Federation of Coffee Growers (NFC), the organization that monitors this trend, believes that this number will decrease starting in 2010.

Finally, one of the main programs of the NFC is to increase the national production from 11.5 – 12 millions bags to 17.6 millions bags by 2014. This project is mainly focused on renovation projects that aim to increase the yield of the current coffee farms by planting new coffee trees.

Andres C
Source: eltiempo.com and NFC press release.

[Joachim Oster]

I consider the import of any green coffee beans to a coffee producing nation or region a major problem. It may appear as part of the proliferation of ‘free trade‘, but it is the single most quoted source of the spread of coffee diseases and pests! The livelyhood of farmers can easily be wiped out by having minor differences in the availablitiy of labor, different workers laws or salaries. The e.g. change of a political party and a slight shift in focus from agriculture to, let‘s say mining can have a devastating effect to the profitability to the country‘s coffee farming.

Coffee is not the only agricultural commodity affected of course, but are tariffs the only answer? Or slapping often rather questionable FAIR TRADE stickers on the bags?

Having said that, is there anything positive about importing green beans into coffee producing countries|regions?