The “grandfather of specialty coffee” goes to the big caffè in the sky.
Cheese and olives
A column in the current issue of The Economist uses the example of Gruyère and Emmental cheeses in Switzerland to make the case that, if Europe wants to protect its traditional farmers and producers — and the agrobiodiversity which underpins their livelihoods — in the face of globalization, moving upmarket and selling expensive niche products to rich foreigners may be a better bet than “to deploy subsidies and tariffs to compete artificially on price.” Which is mostly what’s happening now.
[EU farm Commissioner] Mariann Fischer Boel … has urged food producers to focus on quality, heritage and new markets. This summer, she told exporters that import tariffs will move in only one direction in the coming years: “downwardsâ€.
Of course, that will require marketing savvy. It will also require a robust quality-monitoring and labelling systems. Because, as a New Yorker piece on the “slippery business” of trading in fake Italian extra virgin olive oil entertainingly demonstrates this week, there are plenty of wise guys around ready to exploit loopholes and weaknesses.
Later: Cheese, olives, and wine!
Feet of clay
That’s another one to tick off the life list. Above you see Zhu Youyong, who describes himself as a farmer. He happens also to be Distinguished Professor Zhu, President of Yunnan Agricultural College and a hero of mine.
Zhu’s name is associated with a method of growing rice that delivers higher, more stable yields with lower inputs of fungicides and a more stable harvest from year to year. Not bad for an amazingly simple idea. The problem is that traditional landraces of sticky rice, which farmers like to grow and to eat, are susceptible to fungal disease. They also have a nasty tendency to fall over, or lodge, especially when they are carrying a bountiful load of seed. Modern hybrids are disease resistant, and high-yielding, but the taste is not much to write home about. Yields are high, but prices are low. To grow the tasty traditional landraces, farmers need to be able to afford fungicides and they need to be able to overcome their tendency to lodge.
Coffee in Rwanda
A recent paper from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University of looks at the specialty coffee industry in Rwanda. Among its conclusions:
- the specialty coffee industry in Rwanda aids in local poverty alleviation and job creation;
- the specialty coffee industry provides opportunities for developing business and management skills;
- the actions of specific coffee entrepreneurs have affected the lives of ordinary Rwandans; and
- entrepreneurial activities within the Rwandan specialty coffee industry provide Rwandans with opportunities to interact in ways that may promote post-conflict reconciliation.
It is a long read, but with a good cup of Joe by your side the time will fly by.
COGENT has a new web site
New web site for International Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT).