Trade is more important than aid

One of the greatest things that developed nations can do to help developing nations is engage in fair trade, and given that coffee is the most valuable commodity we trade worldwide after oil, it represents an industry that for many poor farmers represents their only way out of poverty. But while we in the developed nations continue to pay outrageous prices for fancy Starbucks coffee, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields. How can this be? This paradox is most evident in Ethiopia, which, ironically, is the birthplace of coffee. In the documentary Black Gold, we follow the story of Tadesse Meskela, a man on a mission to save his tens of thousands of struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. The film follows Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the centers of power in the multinational coffee industry that is controlled by multinational corporations, commodity traders, coffee exchanges, and trade ministers. The film reveal the many challenges that Tadesse and his farmers face in their quest for a humane and lasting solution for the coffee farmers. For Meskela, “Trade is more important than aid.” Wake up and smell the coffee industry. It’s time for a change.