Work

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For those of who you may be from the coffee world and reading this, here is a little more on the actual work that I’m doing here. For those of you who are not, well at worst you will be bored by this and at best you may learn a little something.

The first project is an analysis of the effectiveness of The Ethiopian Commodities Exchange. The exchange was launched in April of 2008 in an effort to improve the former auction system for coffee and other commodities such as grains and sesame.

Conceptualized and managed by one extraordinary lady, Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin hopes the new exchange will boost the countries FOREX earnings and ultimately lift Ethiopia out of poverty...a year down the line and this is not quite the picture. Exports have fallen dramatically, revenues are down and fully washed Ethiopian coffees are no longer fetching the high price they once did. There are a number of reasons for these factors and my role now is to figure out what they are, what exactly is the current scenario and how it can be improved. All sounds pretty easy but let me tell you finding reliable statistics on pricing, yields and inventory levels in East Africa aint no easy task. At the moment im starting to talk to key exporters, traders and customs professionals in Ethiopia to arrange meetings for my trip in the coming weeks. Needless to say im excited to get to the bottom of this one but accept that its not going to be an easy ride.

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