Oxfam New Zealand, 7 November 2006

"Starbucks Must Honour Ethiopian Farmers"

News of another piece of corporate self-interest at the expense of the very poor is hardly headline stuff. And yet, on reading the paper this weekend, my jaded response was tempered with a certain incredulity.

Perhaps it makes a difference that this time it happens to be Starbucks. Perceptions of Starbucks seem polarised: ethically conscious, or model of cultural imperialism?

Whatever your preferred view, the fact remains that those at the other end of their trade chain continue to suffer terribly…and unnecessarily.

While travelling in Ethiopia last year, I spoke to members of the farming co-operatives who supply Progreso (an Oxfam Fair Trade café in London of which I'm a Director) and saw what they go through to produce our coffee. I found myself sitting, fraudulently, at a place of honour in a kind of muddy village hall … at a complete loss to explain my presence. Hard to explain that I was not a doctor or an engineer. That I hadn't come from the government to fix the trade rules. I'm an actor, I told them. Shoulders sagged all around. I foraged for something helpful: I might be able to quote you, I offered. I can talk … and get published whether I have anything to say or not. The offer was seized upon: ask them to pay a good price for our coffee, they said with some passion, tell them it's some of the best in the world, tell them how hard we work.

The focus of the message was not the all too obvious struggle to keep their children alive, or the doubt as to whether they would manage earn the equivalent of the price of our espresso that week … it was a plea on behalf of quality and sheer effort.

Having received their hospitality, drunk their coffee, and seen them living through appalling conditions with something that looked like equanimity, I find it impossible to stomach the spectacle of a multinational with gross profits of NZ$5.6 billion (2005) and a professed commitment to sustainable development, standing in the way of an innovative plan that would help Ethiopian producers add value to their trade and work their way out of poverty.

But Oxfam revealed on Thursday that a plan by Ethiopia to gain legal ownership of the names of their most famous coffees, Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe, is being opposed by Starbucks and the National Coffee Association (NCA) in the US. Ownership of the coffee names would allow Ethiopian farmers, who currently earn between $0.75 and $1.60 per pound for their beans, to control the use of the brands in the market place and eventually take a bigger share of the retail value.

Experts estimate that this could earn Ethiopia and its farmers up to $88m extra a year. For a country where millions live on less than a dollar a day and where sickness, poverty and drought are wreaking havoc, this could change lives. The potential gains would go to some of the 15m or more poor people who are dependent on Ethiopia's coffee trade.

However, on discovering the plan, coffee giant Starbucks, which can sell Ethiopian speciality coffee for up to $26 per pound in its shops, prompted the NCA, of which they are a leading member, to lodge a protest at the US Patent and Trademark Office. This lead to the rejection of Ethiopia's application to register the names.

While publicly stating their commitment to helping poor farmers in developing countries, behind the scenes Starbucks seems determined to maintain its privileged position at the top of a supply chain that depends on keeping millions in poverty.

Occasionally Starbucks makes very public gifts to projects in developing countries designed to help poor coffee farmers. It also sells a small amount of Fairtrade coffee in its shops. But, while the company continues to work to deny the vast majority of farmers of a greater share of the profits generated by the global coffee trade, one has to question just how deep Starbucks' commitment to change truly lies.

The Ethiopian government continues to pursue its trademark strategy, but it has also presented Starbucks with an alternative option: a voluntary licensing agreement, which would recognize the country's rights to the coffee names immediately, while giving Starbucks permission to use them on its packs and in its shops. Unfortunately, this agreement was presented to Starbucks in September this year, but the company has yet to respond affirmatively.

I have been involved with Oxfam and its coffee campaign for over 4 years now. Having seen the poverty from which these farmers are trying to escape, having sat with them and listened to their stories of falling prices that mean they are not even covering costs, I urge Starbucks to rethink its actions and do what it can to empower the country's farmers to take a greater share of what is theirs. I urge you in calling on Starbucks CEO Jim Donald to honour their commitment to farming communities by going to www.oxfam.org.nz. Ethiopia’s is a brave and innovative move that deserves respect and support. Anything else is indefensible.

Colin Firth