black gold

The film, Black Gold, directed by Mark and Nick Francis is a documentary about the international coffee trade, mainly focused on the coffee bean farmers in Ethiopia. During the film, the film crew follows around a man named Tadesse Meskela, the general manager of the oromia coffee farmers cooperative union of Ethiopia. Tadesse travels around the globe to advertise the quality of Ethiopian as well as to negotiate better prices for the coffee trade.

Stephen Holden, a film reviewer for The New York Times, points out many important facts provided in the documentary. In Ethipoia, 67 percent of the country’s export revenue comes from coffee, and 11 million people count on coffee for their survival. However, the World Trade Organization which claims to help the world’s poorer countries leaves them dependent on emergency relief. It is also said to be that four multinational corporations, Procter and Gamble, Nestle, Sara Lee, and Kraft dominate the world coffee market, with the international price determined in New York and London. The film shows the third world countries getting the least voice when the international price to be determined with the powerful nations getting the better end of the deal. Tedesse explains how they are being paid only 0.23 cents per kilo of coffee beans which can brew about 80 cups of coffee.

The four multinational corporations declined to be a part of the film to be interviewed which clearly shows that they too realize that they are abusing their powers for their own good. The film also takes the viewers to places such as the coffee making contest and a Starbucks store in Seattle to show that people are so unaware of how much hardship coffee farmers are going through in Ethiopia where the coffee, which is giving them the joy in their life, is coming from. From the Starbucks store manager who is so proud of Starbucks for providing people with their everyday coffee, to a barista who is entering contests to make to best espressos and his own signature coffee to make a name for himself.

It is said in the film and by Holden that African share of world trade is only one percent of the whole. If the share is to be increased by only one more percent, Africa would generate $70 billion a year, five times what the continent receives in aid. Many people nowadays are uneducated about the origins of where many of our goods come from. As Christians, it is important to always be aware of the poor who are breaking their backs for our daily comforts. Also, not only being aware of facts but also taking the facts seriously to have impact in our daily lives is important.