coffee

• where is coffee grown?

  grown close to equator due to hot climate , production dominated by South America e.g Brazil
• Arabica coffee beans


  • more expensive and higher quality compare to robust beans
  • 70% of worlds production
  • grown in South America and Eastern Africa
• issues with coffee production

  • coffee plants are susceptible to disease e.g bacterial blight , harms leaves
  • pests and insects e.g Black Twig Borer in Asia destroys plants
  • weather conditions - outbreaks of disease more likely , Bacterial Blight spreads in wet seasons
• price flucuations

  1999 , Vietnam = produced 450 million kg of coffee

  2000 - $1.19

  2001 - $0.68
• who is the largest producer of coffee?

  Brazil - 2015 , exported 20% of world's coffee , has 300 farmers
• who are the largest importers of coffee?

  USA - 2011 imported 20% of world's coffee
• what percentage of coffee goes to farmers and why?

  7-10% as they only sell unprocessed bean , low value
• why do TNCs make more money compared to small scale farmers?

  they buy beans and roast them , making money by selling processed bean to customers
• what is 'the race to the bottom' ?

  coffee producing countries compete to cut wages , labour protections and enviromental regulations to protect TNCs.

  • can cause long-term damage to farmland e.g monoculture - Brazil lead to loss of biodiversity
• TNC , Ecom , controls 40% of global coffee exports