Question

Topic: Black Gold: Wake up and Smell the Coffee- Wall Street, the global market and Farm Poverty. (Food insecurity class, this is from the video "Black Gold")

Is something wrong with a global trade structure, where consumers pay between two and seven dollars for a cup of coffee, while the farmers get between one and three cents per cup.

Does this disparity contribute to poverty and food insecurity in Coffee Growing regions of the world?

What should be done to address this disparity.

Answer 1

Yes

With consumers paying close to $2-$7 and farmers receiving less than 3 cents per cup, a huge disparity lies in the market.

This is because the retailer or middle man is making more money by exploiting the consumer as well as the actual producer.

This leads to inflation or rising prices on the consumer end and lower incomes to the bottom level producers, thereby making both of them worse off.

This definitely gives rise to poverty, income inequality and food security in these areas, as farmers or producers are not compensated adequately.

In order to address this disparity, the government needs to intervene and make sure the producers are compensated adequately by setting a minimu price for them.

Also, subsidies and other grants would help alleviate the producers from poverty and bridge the income gap.