The farmers are seeing less of this premium. They say they feel that merchants are taking advantage of their limited knowledge, but understand they have additional costs of processing and shipment. In Yirga Alem, boys in rags flag down occasional passing vehicles, offering to sell bags of coffee beans. The Ethiopian authorities broadcast the coffee price to farmers daily on state radio in the Amharic and Oromo languages. Nearly all Ethiopian coffee is organic.
Few farmers can afford to use pesticides.
Because of internal conflict, Ethiopia requested exemption from a global retention pact of coffee producing nations which was designed to raise prices by keeping stocks off the market. Tareken was unfamiliar with the plan, but he seconded the effort. Coffee prices are pressured by over-production and high stocks in consumer countries. There's not much light at the end of the tunnel yet,'' the London-based specialty coffee broker said. Arabica coffee farmers in Ethiopia scratch out the barest of livings.