2.7 geography internal - global pattern of coffee

1. S p illin g
Th e
B e a ns
On
C o ffe e

2. S o w h a t is c o f f e e ?
Coffee is a drink made
from a bean.
There are two types of
beans - Arabica and
Robusta
The plants grow in
tropical climates with
high rainfall

3. Coffee beans start out as red berries!

4. But end up like this:

5. S o h o w im p o r t a n t is it ?
How much coffee do you think is sold in a
year?
• Coffee is the 2nd largest commodity sold in
the world today!
• 400 Billion cups are sold each year
• 25 million farmers grow coffee around the
world.

6. W h e r e d id c o f f e e o r ig in a t e
fro m ?
• Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia
around AD 600-800 when a goat
herder noticed that after his
animals had eaten a reddish
berry, they were much more
energetic. He told the local monks
and they found the berries kept
them awake during long nights of
prayer and news of this exciting
discovery soon spread.

7. Whe re
is
c o ffe e
P roduc e
d?

8. Why is it grown here ?
• 1500 – 2000 mm rain
over 9 months
• 3 month harvest
period
• ITCZ = 2 harvests in
Tanzania

9. Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

10. INSOLATION - LATITUDE
17 – 24 Degrees
Sun overhead the
equator and tropics
Most concentrated
areas of insolation

11. •
• Colonies
• in
• Africa

12. TH E WO R L D B A N K ’ S
A D V IC E
• In the 1970’s the World Bank
advised many different countries
to grow coffee – countries such as
Vietnam, Yemem and Philippines
as the price for coffee was
relatively good.
• This flooded the market of coffee
and the price fell drastically…..
Simply the more supply the less
demand = you can pay less for it!

13. H o w d id it s p r e a d t o t h e r e s t o f
t h e w o r ld ?
Spread of coffee around the
world
• Arab traders brought the coffee plant to
the Middle East called ‘Arabian wine’.
• As the Islam religion spread, so to did
coffee.
• A Dutchman smuggled seeds out of the http://www.coffee
Middle East and transported them to project.com/more
their colonies of Java and Ceylon /movies.html
• Plantations opened throughout the
world in European colonies.

14. W h e r e is c o f f e e s o ld ?
% of world
coffee
consumed
in 2003

16. W h a t a b o u t in N e w
Z e a la n d ?
• In New Zealand, the
average consumption
is 380 cups per
person per year,
that's over a cup a
day for every kiwi.

17. W h y is t h e c o f f e e in d u s t r y a n
is s u e ?

19. A n e c o n o m ic is s u e ?
• World coffee prices have fallen to their lowest
ever with farmers earning 70% less than 10
years ago they were earning well over US$1.20.
• Earning just 30% of their former incomes means
that the 25 million farmers (and their families)
world-wide are struggling to survive.
• However, low coffee price means savings for the
consumer and multinational companies are
earning record profits for their shareholders.

20. W A T C H O X F A M C L IP
Click here to watch oxfam clip

22. M o r e e c o n o m ic is s u e s …
• El Salvador recently
acknowledged that over 30,000
jobs have been destroyed
because of the price slump of
coffee over the last 10 years. The
workers struggle to find jobs to
support their families.
• In Nicaragua almost 60,000 coffee
producers are facing losing their
land because of mass
indebtedness. Farmers borrow
money each year as their crops
cost more to produce than they
receive. They are then trapped in
the cycle of debt and have no
alternative but to sell their land.

23. A n e n v ir o n m e n t a l is s u e ?
• Historically,
Coffee was grown in a forest environment, with large canopy
trees above and coffee hidden underneath.
This original shaded system maintained a natural balance with
the canopy trees providing organic material for the soil, a habitat
for birds and beneficial insects and extra income from wood and
fruit after the harvest of the coffee season.

24. B u t i n t h e 19 7 0 ’ s
• Coffee changed to "full-sun"
varieties, requiring land to be
cleared of trees and allowing
coffee plants to be planted
closer together.
• This requires intensive use of
chemicals since there is no leaf
litter from a canopy to provide
nutrients. Coffee growers require
more chemical fertilisers
(ammonia based) and
pesticides. These pesticides
poison farmers and wildlife. For
example 97% decrease in
migratory bird numbers in
Central America
• Clearing the land of trees means
soil is destabilised and erosion
increases.

25. A s o c ia l is s u e ?
• There is a new generation of
Kenyan children who cannot go
to primary school, as coffee
farmers can’t afford the small
fees.
• In Uganda, 25% of the pop relies
on coffee, either directly or
indirectly. Bruno and Seluo live
in the Mpigi district of Uganda.
Both have had to drop out of
school because they can’t pay
the fees. This is not uncommon in
one area as teacher noted,
“between 1995 and 1997 we had
500 students. Last year we
started with 140 and ended up
with 50”.

26. S o c ia l Is s u e s …
• Many farmers have walked of their land. With no money and large debts
farmers move their families into cities and are faced with slums,
unemployment and disease.
• UN Reports say tens of thousands of Mexican coffee farmers have had to
leave their fields in search of incomes to feed their families. In Central
America, 540,000 jobs have been lost and unemployed workers camp out
in the cities begging for food.

27. W A T C H O X F A M C L IP
Click here to watch oxfam clip

28. N G O ’ S A R E T A K IN G
A C T IO N
• PROMOTING FAIR
TRADE COFFEE

29. F a ir T r a d e is n o t a ‘ h a n d
o u t’ …
• Fair Trade coffee pays farmers
on average $1.26 per pound for
coffee beans – which is 50%
more than market prices. It tries
to promote shade grown and
organic coffees
• One farmer being supported by
Fair Trade is Fabius Mirtil in Haiti,
who says “I don’t even want to
think what would happen without
fair trade. I could not send my
son to school. The local buyers
give you a miserable price.”

30. C E L E B R IT IE S A R E G E T T IN G
IN V O L V E D

31. F a ir T r a d e c o f f e e , 3 % o f t h e
m a r k e t a n d r is in g …
Starbucks
and other
coffee
chains
now offer
fair trade
coffee…
it’s a
start…