ACP-EU JPA calls for action on the coffee crisis
The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Brazzaville adopted a resolution on the crisis in the international coffee market calling for, amongst other things, 'immediate action to assist small producers in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya who have been severely affected by the crisis' and for the redeployment of former STABEX funds and additional funds to 'address the crisis faced by coffee-producing communities and take the necessary measures to enable the countries to benefit, without any conditions, from the 'B' envelope of the 9th EDF'. It also called for 'major roaster companies to dedicate sufficient amounts of funds to address the plight of farmers and local communities' and to 'pay coffee growers a decent price'. Comment: For ACP countries the effects of the coffee crisis on coffee-dependent households and coffee-dependent communities have been particularly severe. The situation has been made worse by the discontinuation of the STABEX scheme, which earlier provided assistance with the immediate consequences of declining commodity earnings. During a similar crisis at the beginning of the 1990s financial assistance totalling €978 million was made available to ACP countries under the STABEX scheme to address the immediate problems arising from low coffee prices. No such assistance has been made available during the current coffee crisis. Indeed, efforts by East African countries to access 9th EDF 'B' allocation resources made available in part to address losses in export earnings, have been singularly unsuccessful, suggesting that the new post-STABEX scheme is simply not up to the challenge of meeting the short-term needs of coffee-dependent ACP economies. There is a growing recognition amongst the Brussels ambassadors of East African coffee-dependent economies of the need for the EU to introduce an initiative to 'fast track' support to projects designed to address the needs of coffee-dependent households and coffee-dependent communities, using existing unutilised EDF resources and 9th EDF 'B' allocations, with, if necessary, additional funds being made available from the general reserve of the 9th EDF.
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2003
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52927 http://agritrade.cta.int/Back-issues/Agriculture-monthly-news-update/2003/June-2003 |
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