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Why Join the "Big Noise"? By G. E. Gorfu. (August 6, 04) An article by Ato Getachew Assefa appeared on some Internet sites recently advocating why those of us in the Diaspora should join the "Big Noise" to petition and demand a fair market price for our coffee, as prices have fallen on an all time low. Even though this is an action that many can and should join, I have never been one to join a bandwagon, and I am not going to be one to do so at this time. My reasons are as follows: When people were clamoring for the return of the Axum Obelisk in Rome over a decade ago, I was a lone voice advocating the use of our obelisk right from were it stood as a beacon to attract visitors to Ethiopia, by hiring a couple of young Ethiopian beauties, stationing them by the obelisk daily, and having them distribute tourist information about our country. Unfortunately, my words fell on deaf ears, and neither the Ethiopian Embassy in Rome, The Ethiopian Airlines, nor The Ethiopian Tourist Organization, took any action. I wonder, how many millions of dollars worth of tourist business was lost due to that failure of taking that simple action? Now, even that possibility is gone forever as our obelisk has been removed, cut into pieces, and stowed away in some storage depot. And we are left where we began years ago, begging for our obelisk to come home. It is important to think of new ways to figure out solutions to our problems, and jumping on a bandwagon is not going to do it. A great deal of income can be derived from selling our coffee, but not the way it has been done for the last fifty or hundred years. It is time to think of a different way. Coffee prices have fallen to an all time low: between $0.85 - $0.55 US per Kilogram. It is easy to think that this one Kilogram of coffee beans can be roasted and turned into between 500 to 1000 cups of coffee, and sold at a fair price, say $0.50 US, which is less than half what it costs in Europe and America today. That would convert the cost of a single Kilogram of coffee to between $250 - $500 US. Is anybody listening? That is a 300% - 900% increase. I hope this too, does not fall on deaf ears. The secret to this conversion is to reduce exports to a bare minimum and invite those who want to drink coffee to come to our country. Not only Ethiopia, but all coffee producing nations must get together in this endeavor and cut down production. The oil producing nations have done it before, and this can be replicated with coffee, or any other product for that matter. Instead of working harder and sweating at increasing coffee production, which depresses market prices, and competing for world market, thereby causing prices to fall even lower in favor of the buyers, one should think creatively, and start a different market at home, and a give a value added product. Otherwise, we are no better than Alice in Wonderland, where she keeps running faster and faster only to be able to stay abreast. We need to wake up and smell the coffee, forgive the pun. So, even though I am not totally opposed to this petition of begging the buyers to pay us a fairer price, I see it only as a temporary measure. The ultimate solution lies in having the control of your product and making the market come to you, instead of running to the market and then begging and petitioning the buying community to pay you better prices. The simple question is: why should they? If you were buying a product, say a car or a camera, you would want to pay for it the least possible price. So why would you think the buying community would want to pay a penny more for coffee beyond what the market price dictates? The key word here is: "DICTATE". Am I understood? When producers come and compete for buyers, buyers become dictators, and will offer the least price they can. Coming into a market over which one has very little, or no control, is not much better than coming into a den of thieves. The simple solution is to get the buyer to come to you, and you then have the upper hand, and can dictate your price. The simple message we want to pass is that tourism in our country still remains in its infancy, in spite of the fact that many people in Europe and America are fascinated about Ethiopia, and would like to visit our country. But for lack of skilled marketing approach, many tourists hop skip and fly over Ethiopia to visit instead, a Safari Park in Kenya, the Okovango in Botswana, and Kruger Park in South Africa. We need to do aggressive marketing and tap into that river of tourists who continue to fly overhead. As a temporary measure, however, we have nothing against signing this petition, and would encourage those who can, to sign it. But we don't see its efficacy as a long term solution. It is a band-aid. That is all. www.tigrai.net |