1. The
News 6 >fridaymarch 27, 2015
BY NANCYPALENCIA
The News
International oil pric-
es may be stagnant,
but Mexico still has a
black liquid gold that
could potentially perk up the econo-
my but has so far remained relative-
ly untapped.
The Mexican coffee industry –
whichcurrentlyrankseighthinworld-
wide production – cranks out about
250,000 metric tons of beans a year
and is the number one source of U.S.
coffee imports.
Equal Exchange, an international
smallfarmers’advocacygroup,recent-
ly noted that Mexico is still one of the
largest coffee producers in the world,
anddespiteabadharvestlastyearthat
represented revenue losses of nearly
40 percent – accounts for about 40
percent of the world’s organic coffee
production.
According to Business Insider,
Mexico’s coffee industry’s exports in
2013 added up to $20 billion.
The U.S.-based business website
went on to say that global demand
Global
Markets
The branches of a healthy robusta tree sags under the weight of coffee cherries
REUTERSPHOTO/DAVIDALIREGARCIAREUTERSPHOTO/DAVIDALIREGARCIA
Oilrevenuesaccountforafullthird
of the national budget and, historical-
ly,muchhasbeendonetotrytoboost
this sector.
However, the recent plummet in
oil prices from around $110 a barrel
to around $50 has left politicians and
businessmen scrambling.
Exportdiversification–muchtout-
ed as the most reliable means of pro-
tecting the economy against negative
external factors – might have served
asasafetynetagainsttheOPECprice
war.
As the old adage goes, it is best not
to put all your eggs in one basket, or
inthiscase,relyononlyonesourceof
black liquid gold.
But why did the Mexican cof-
fee market not get the attention it
deserves?
The main reason may well be the
locationofthenation’smostimportant
productionfarmsandwhorunsthem.
Chiapas and Oaxaca produce the
bulk of organic coffee in Mexico and
they are also some of the poorest
states, made up largely of indigenous
populations.
These areas have a long history of
social instability that has kept them
from advancing economically.
According to Equal Exchange,
in the 1860s, land disputes between
southern Mexico and Guatemala led
toamassivenumberoflandpurchases
by wealthy Europeans and politicians
who pushed the native people off of
the land and into the mountains.
Later, labor laws like the Ley De
Obreros of 1914 would bring many in-
digenous people back to work as in-
dentured servants in the very same
for the coffee beans is second only to
crude oil.
In fact, the international coffee in-
dustry is valued at over $100 billion.
With so much money that could
come out of Mexican soil, it’s easy to
wonder why it’s not being exploited.
The answer is multifaceted and
sometimes not pretty.
The simple answer is that, up un-
til recently, Mexico has invested most
ofitsenergyandfinancialreservesin-
tooil,themainstayoftheMexicanex-
port portfolio.
Coffee farmer Lorenzo Avalos Acahua walks past healthy robusta trees at a farm
near Chichapa, in Mexico’s eastern Veracruz state January 8, 2015.
Witheach
organiccoffeewe
consume,wedo
ourbitinsupport
ofallthefamilies
devotedtoits
cultivation...
OMERO CARLOS VELASCO
Grower and a founding partner of
Cesmach