A recent post in greenlagirl.com has rekindled a dialogue that she and I initiated about 4 months ago: Why isn’t most coffee (organic, Fair Trade or otherwise) roasted and packaged in the country of origin? My argument has been that in some cases cooperative groups are roasting their coffee locally, as in the case of GRAN Cafe in the Dominican Republic

However, some commentary on greenlagirl points to the obstacles in direct sales from the country of origin. A summary of the different arguments is as follows:

• Spoilage: roasted coffee spoils in a matter of days or weeks, whereas green coffee can be stored for months at a time.

• Cost: Small cooperatives don’t have the available capital and human resources necessary to transport, market, and distribute their coffee effectively.

• Scale: In volume oriented markets like coffee, small roasters don’t have the physical infrastructure and processing equipment to be cost competitive.

• Logistics: Retailers and consumers expect a diverse suite of products available on demand, a trait that is beyond the reach of small, locally-run operations.

In historical context, tropical countries have always been treated as satellite colonies by the temperate, developed world. Because tropical countries produce a host of products unavailable in temperate climates, European colonizers developed elaborate public and private infrastructure with the sole purpose of extracting raw materials for transport to the North. This has been the market trend with a seemingly inexhaustible list of tropical staples: sugar, coffee, cacao, tropical hardwoods, tin, silver, diamonds, gold, oil, natural gas…

Tax structures, capital investments, land tenure and public institutions were all designed to favor these asymmetric economic relationships. Many of these structures still exist today, though often in the guise of Free Trade Agreements, Official Development Assistance, or direct capital investment.

Now, however, globalization is literally redefining human civilization. As bloated hierarchies like Starbucks attempt to consolidate their hold over the global coffee market, the simmering swarm of the blogosphere and the non-linear networks that we inter-connect, are mobilizing. We too are redefining the rules of human civilization.

So I summarize the challenge in this way: how do we redefine market relationships to truly make trade fair? Let’s face it, the Fair Trade certification is just a baby-step in the right direction. As agroecologists talk more seriously about moving beyond organic, we need to elevate the debate and develop practical strategies that will allow us to move beyond Fair Trade.

How do we overcome the aforementioned obstacles? What innovative networks can be created to allow more meaningful linkages, and more fruitful economic exchanges, between producers and end consumers? How can we maximize new technological developments to foster innovation in transportation, distribution and marketing?