The Economics of Coffee

The Topic:

In this seminar, we explore the economics of coffee. We will explore how the fair-trade and direct-trade models differ from non-affiliated models in the case of coffee production/exportation.  

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Readings:

  1. The Art of Processing Coffee: Link to Reading
  2. Black Gold: Link to Reading
  3. Coffee's Economics, Rewritten by Farmers: Link to Reading
  4. De la Gente: Link to Reading
  5. An Economic Valuation of Smallholder Value Chains: Coffee Transactions in Chiapas, Mexico: Link to Reading

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do the fair-trade and direct-trade models differ from non-affiliated models in the case of coffee production/exportation? 
  2. Does coffee exportation represent a market failure? 
  3. What, if any, obligation (moral or otherwise) do we have as consumers when purchasing coffee? Are policy interventions necessary? 
  4. In what way could transitioning to mandatory fair-trade coffee marginalize low-income members of society? 

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Suggestions?

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Created:

Added by Michael Lenox, February 2017.