Lines, Thomas

Many developing countries are stagnating or growing poorer, including their farmers, who comprise two-thirds of the world’s poor. Many of the reasons for this lie in systems of agricultural trade, including the rules of the WTO, the unfair trade policies of rich countries, and falling prices on international commodity markets. Oxfam recommends policy reforms to […]

There is a development crisis, with disastrous implications for producers, across coffee-growing regions. Most coffee farmers are losing money with every bag of coffee that they sell. Despite recent pronouncements by governments and coffee companies, virtually nothing has been done to resolve this worsening problem. The International Coffee Organisation/World Bank Roundtable is a major opportunity […]

The recent collapse of world coffee prices was a disaster, for more than 25 million poor families. The crisis is now so deep that it is contributing to widespread hunger. The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) is addressing the crisis with plans for a Quality Improvement Programme and proposals to help hard-hit coffee farmers to find […]