Fairtrade Coffee and Development - a field study in Ethiopia
(2009)Department of Economics
- Abstract
- Coffee is one of the world’s most traded goods, but as the commodity price has plunged in recent years it is increasingly hard for coffee farmers to survive on their crops. Fairtrade is a trading initiative based on equity that claims to contribute to development by increasing farmers’ profits and empowerment in communities. Few academic studies have examined Fairtrade development claims. This thesis discusses how much truth lies in these statements. A field study in Ethiopia has been used for the purpose. Ethiopia has grown coffee for a thousand years, is heavily dependant on export of coffee beans, and has recently started to export Fairtrade certified coffee. A qualitative research approach has been used in interviews with coffee... (More)
- Coffee is one of the world’s most traded goods, but as the commodity price has plunged in recent years it is increasingly hard for coffee farmers to survive on their crops. Fairtrade is a trading initiative based on equity that claims to contribute to development by increasing farmers’ profits and empowerment in communities. Few academic studies have examined Fairtrade development claims. This thesis discusses how much truth lies in these statements. A field study in Ethiopia has been used for the purpose. Ethiopia has grown coffee for a thousand years, is heavily dependant on export of coffee beans, and has recently started to export Fairtrade certified coffee. A qualitative research approach has been used in interviews with coffee farmers, importers, and managers. My conclusion is that Fairtrade does bring economic benefits to farmers. The price of coffee is higher than that of conventional coffee, farmers receive a premium that is to be invested in the community, and they have good working conditions. But lack of education and participation of farmers obstructs economic development. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1337249
- author
- Bäckman, Tora
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2009
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Fairtrade, Coffee, Ethiopia, Cooperatives, Development Theory, Economics, econometrics, economic theory, economic systems, economic policy, Nationalekonomi, ekonometri, ekonomisk teori, ekonomiska system, ekonomisk politik
- language
- English
- id
- 1337249
- date added to LUP
- 2009-01-02 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2010-08-03 10:52:02
@misc{1337249,
abstract = {{Coffee is one of the world’s most traded goods, but as the commodity price has plunged in recent years it is increasingly hard for coffee farmers to survive on their crops. Fairtrade is a trading initiative based on equity that claims to contribute to development by increasing farmers’ profits and empowerment in communities. Few academic studies have examined Fairtrade development claims. This thesis discusses how much truth lies in these statements. A field study in Ethiopia has been used for the purpose. Ethiopia has grown coffee for a thousand years, is heavily dependant on export of coffee beans, and has recently started to export Fairtrade certified coffee. A qualitative research approach has been used in interviews with coffee farmers, importers, and managers. My conclusion is that Fairtrade does bring economic benefits to farmers. The price of coffee is higher than that of conventional coffee, farmers receive a premium that is to be invested in the community, and they have good working conditions. But lack of education and participation of farmers obstructs economic development.}},
author = {{Bäckman, Tora}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Fairtrade Coffee and Development - a field study in Ethiopia}},
year = {{2009}},
}