A Peruvian entrepreneur, far from the capital, turns plantain bananas, a low-return commodity, into chips, a high-value export. Finding a training partner in management skills proved the key to moving this Peruvian exporter up the value chain.
Photo: ITC Women farmers from the poorest rural communities have been a focus of ITC’s poverty reduction efforts in India. Working with bodies such as the Spices Board India, ITC has helped establish sustainable livelihoods for them, based on exports of spices.
Reducing Poverty Through Trade: Spicing Up Rural Life
Businesses as different as luxury vacation resorts and spice-growing by peasant farmers can result in export-led poverty reduction. These two projects supported by ITC indicate how a trade-focused approach to sustainable development can increase revenues for poor communities, encourage collaboration at all levels and even maintain traditional culture.
http://www.cupofexcellence.org. The visionary Cup of Excellence idea — a competition to select the best coffee a country has to offer and a well-engineered Internet auction — has brought gourmet coffee from Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua to the world.
The coffee market is oversupplied, with the price of coffee at its lowest in a century. Over the years, ITC has supported several projects and initiatives to help coffee producers. One of the most innovative projects was the world’s first Internet coffee auction, the origin of what is today the Cup of Excellence® programme.
More than 20,000 Chinese farming families have been lifted out of rural
poverty in a remarkable economic success story that has seen Yunnan
province in south-west China become one of the leading cut-flower
centres in Asia.
Viet Nam has risen in the last five years to become the world’s top
pepper exporter. ITC has accompanied Viet Nam during the process,
helping it to upgrade quality and dramatically increase revenues for
rural families, not least the women workers who underpin the industry.
At the same time, the conscious emphasis on quality has allayed fears
among other producers that low-priced, poor-quality pepper would drive
international prices downwards.
Photo: Jute Manufactures Development Council, India Jute’s versatility and eco-friendly profile has placed it back on the international scene as a golden fibre — with fashionable shopping bags just one of its end products.
Once termed a “sunset industry”, jute now offers fashionable, eco-friendly products that are attracting new consumers — thanks to innovative applications in the automotive industry, fashion, furnishings and landscape management. ITC’s role in jute product development and marketing has contributed to the turnaround, and has helped very poor families to improve their livelihoods and hopes for the future.
In Bolivia, a group of enterprising companies survived the collapse of the rubber industry by harvesting and processing Brazil nuts. As the lead export of the Amazon region, these humble — but difficult — nuts may be the secret to saving the precious rainforest. ITC’s assistance in addressing quality management issues has helped these exporters, as part of a project designed to boost Bolivian exports in ten industry sectors.
The coffee market is over-supplied. With the price of coffee at its lowest in a century, there will be winners and losers in the fierce competition for exports. Getting producers to “add value” to coffee and earn more revenue is a commonly proposed solution. However, this proposal is complex and, for many producers, unrealistic.
Driven by increased consumer awareness, the market for organic food and beverages is developing rapidly. In the United States, the world’s largest market for this product group, analysts expect demand to continue growing in the short to medium term. While domestic production is strong, it is still not high enough to satisfy demand. Producers and traders of organic food and beverages in other countries have strong potential to tap into business opportunities.
Organic foodstuff is produced with a commitment to respect biological and ecological processes. Organic agriculture is based on a holistic viewpoint that perceives nature as more than just the separate, individual elements into which it may be split. The principles of organic farming are found in ecology, a science concerned with the interrelationship of living organisms and their environments. The concept of organic farming also covers economic and social aspects of agricultural production, local as well as global.
All of the events listed below feature a conference/educational programme run in parallel with the actual trade show itself, thus offering an excellent forum for the organic industry to meet and share information.
Major events in the organic industry include:
Natural Products Expo West, North America’s largest natural and organic products trade show. It is held each spring in Anaheim, California, and encompasses a wide range of product categories, including organic food, fibre and personal-care products. In 2002, Expo West attracted more than 25,000 trade professionals and more than 2,200 stands (exhibit booths). In 2003, the show will take place from 6 to 9 March. Visit http://www.expowest.com for more information.
Natural Products Expo East is the largest show in this category on the East Coast of the United States. It has the same profile of products as Natural Products Expo West. It is held each autumn in Washington, DC. In 2002 the show will take place from 3 to 6 October. Visit http://www.expoeast.com for more information.
The Organic Conference and Trade Show is organized by the Organic Trade Association in connection with its annual membership meeting. It is held in Austin, Texas, and the last event took place in May 2002. Visit http://www.ota.com for more information.
The world market for imported spices and culinary herbs is large, valued at just over US$ 2.3 billion. LDCs such as Madagascar, Comoros and the United Republic of Tanzania earn a substantial part of their foreign exchange from spice exports. The main spices exported by LDC countries are vanilla, cloves, chillies, cardamoms, nutmeg and mace. Since 1995, the LDCs have provided over half of the world’s imports of vanilla and over one-fifth of the world’s demand for cloves. Other major LDC exports are black pepper, paprika, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, etc.
The European Union (EU) imports some 1,200 tonnes of cardamom annually for a total value of about US$ 6 million. Guatemalan exporters provide about 80% of EU requirements. Other suppliers include India and Papua New Guinea. The leading markets in the EU are Sweden, Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom.
ITC’s Market Briefs are short market analyses, available in print and on ITC’s web site, which review export potential for products and markets of interest to developing countries. Below is a summary of a recent ITC Market Brief on Fruit and Vegetable Juices in the United Kingdom.
An independent evaluation concluded that ITC’s market development and promotion activities for jute and jute products are a major success. Working with modest budgets by industry standards, ITC produced substantial results in assisting tens of millions of very poor people in promoting jute exports, a natural, eco-friendly material. When asked to quantify benefits, leading traders suggested that over 20 years, about US$ 6 million in project funding have reaped rewards of upwards of US$ 500 million.
“We have read, with interest, an article on the export of groundnuts (issue 2/1999). The article on aflatoxins was of a high technical standard. It has made us aware of an imperative need for national organizations dealing with product standards and quality control. Lack of infrastructure is the great rock on which least developed countries come to grief. But awareness of a problem is the first step in resolving it. There is no need to tell you of the need for us to have access to your enriching documentation. A long journey begins with the first step – being informed is the first step to begin growing.”
Marie Gilberte Augustin, President, and Michel Jean-François Ferdinand, Executive Secretary, Association Femme/Avenir, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
(Translated from French by ITC)
The World’s First Internet Coffee Auction a Success – Some “Lessons Learned”
Behind every success is hard work, substantial risks, sleepless nights and — not least — the bit of luck that can make the whole difference. This article looks at elements that made the world’s first Internet coffee auction (December 1999) a success. Lessons are described here for others to learn — but also to avoid false expectations among the coffee growers who have started to say: “Getting my coffee on the Internet would change everything — for the better.”
ITC’s Market Brief Programme offers short, structured overviews of export markets for a wide range of goods. Highlights from three market briefs are featured, along with news about ITC’s Market Brief Programme.
ITC co-organized the world’s first on-line coffee auction, selling Brazilian specialty coffee to bidders around the world via the Internet, from 15 to 17 December 1999. The electronic auction generated excitement among buyers and sellers alike, attracting buyers around the globe and generating top-notch prices for Brazilian growers.
ITC was one of 44 winning proposals at the World Bank Development Marketplace Competition for Innovative Ideas for Poverty Alleviation (Washington, D.C., February 2000). The project, “Empowerment of Rural Communities to Export Organic Spices”, was developed jointly with the Spices Board of India. The concept sprang from ITC research on how rural communities in developing countries could benefit from trade development.
Brochures Outline Gourmet Coffee in Five Countries
The Gourmet Coffee Project of the International Coffee Organization, implemented by ITC, now has a new series of five brochures featuring gourmet coffee in the countries that are part of the project: Brazil, Burundi, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. Each country brochure highlights the project and a local history of coffee production in the country, along with a brief country description and map showing the production areas.
The project is financed by the Common Fund for Commodities.
To obtain a copy, contact Bertil Byskov, Chief, Market Development Section, at byskov@intracen.org
Signing ceremony of the new ITC cut-flowers project at the recent International Horticultural Fair in Kunming, China. From left to right: Ambassador D. Dreyer of Switzerland; Mr. Long Yongtu, Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China; J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director of ITC. ITC also has a stand available at the exposition, which will continue through October 1999.
ITC has launched a new project in Yunnan Province, China to help the province develop an export-oriented floriculture industry which has revealed an important potential for export. The project was officially launched at the opening of the International Horticultural Fair (Kunming, May 1999).
Aflatoxin contamination stops groundnuts from entering the major import markets more than any other factor. Importers are required by law to systematically test incoming shipments for the total amount of aflatoxins and reject those exceeding the permitted maximum levels. Exporters unaware of aflatoxin contamination issues, limits, regulations and standards risk costly rejections, claims, downgrading of shipments or the banning of the export origin.
Parallel to measures for aflatoxin prevention and control, developing countries need to adopt reliable sampling and analysis procedures. Accredited national quality control laboratories with well-trained staff are needed to determine the levels of aflatoxin contamination throughout the cultivation, harvesting and post-harvesting stages, as well as certify the quality of export products at origin.
The world’s food system is changing fast under the influence of population growth, the globalization and concentration of world economies and scientific advances. These changes also affect those involved in trading groundnuts.
Groundnuts, a staple food for many developing countries, deserves a closer look as an export commodity. Less than 6% of the world groundnut crop is traded internationally, with export sales averaging close to US$ 1 billion dollars per year. There is, therefore, scope for export growth in groundnuts.
Investing in groundnuts is a sustainable way to address the rising needs for both food and foreign exchange. Today’s exporters face two major challenges: ensuring food safety by preventing and controlling mycotoxin contamination of products and adapting groundnut supplies to demand for varieties best suited to specific end-uses.
ITC is focusing its technical assistance activities in the groundnut sector on helping African producers and exporters meet these challenges. Micaela Maftei, an ITC Senior Commodity Officer, reports.
From left to right: S. Piskolti, ITC; Mr. A. Khalifa, UN Resident Coordinator, United Arab Emirates; J. Denis Bélisle, Executive Director, ITC; H.E. Sheik Sultan Fahem Al-Qasimi, Minister of Economy and Trade, United Arab Emirates.
ITC and Arab Trade Financing Programme organized a “Buyers-Sellers” meeting on agricultural produce and processed foods in the United Arab Emirates in February 1999. The meeting was organized in close cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of the United Arab Emirates Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was endorsed and supported by the United Nations Development Programme.
Business orders worth US$ 6 million were signed at the event, and negotiation initiated on another US$ 64 million, according to a review of over 40 evaluation forms submitted by participating enterprises. About 140 business persons attended from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, the Occupied Palestine Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Trade promotion organizations from Jordan, the Occupied Palestine Territory and Egypt attended. In addition, the Islamic Development Bank, 14 banks in Arab countries, and trade-related organizations and consulting companies were present.
ITC’s Executive Director, J. Denis Bélisle, addressed the opening of this pan-Arab event, which was widely covered in local television and newspapers. “We believe that buyers-sellers meetings are effective tools for increasing trade,” Mr. Bélisle said. “They provide a means to transform political intentions for promoting intra-Arab trade into economic reality, as trade is actually generated during these events.”
A parallel exhibition was organized by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with 52 enterprises from 11 Arab countries exhibiting products.
For more information, contact S. Piskolti, ITC Chief, Office for Arab States, Europe and the CIS at piskolti@intracen.org or F. Nawas, Senior Trade Promotion Officer at nawas@intracen.org
