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To globalise or be globalised?
2005-11-02 07:32:04
By Editor
A recent commodity trading report shows that total coffee exports from Africa last year fetched a total of USD70 billion on the world market. In the end, the net gain to Africa was just five percent of this impressive figure, or USD3.5 billion.
And, the main reason cited is the continuing tradition in Africa of selling raw commodities to multinationals and ultimately buying back finished products as expensive imports.
So, the pathetic pattern of consuming what we don’t ultimately produce and producing what we don’t immediately consume is haunting us, and exerting an undeserved toll of poverty and suffering on the African producer.
For centuries, international trade has never been fair, especially so for Africa owing to the unchanging legacy of the colonial production pattern which ensured we don’t manufacture final goods, but raw materials for export to the metropolitan industrial nexus.
The adverse economic impacts of such a system are now more pronounced than ever. The gains in trade are much in favour of the final manufacturers at some global centres.
It seems that we are also haunted by a generation gap, reflected in the lack of political and business leadership cadres daring to say enough is enough. Arabica coffee berries grown in Tanzania must be roasted, ground, aromatized and packed for instant use, and most importantly, branded ”Kilimanjaro Instant Coffee” rather than Nescafe.
Then such a brand would be promoted globally and enjoy the marketing windows such as the extended US African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the European Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
When we fail to adopt the best strategies for development in the current globalised environment, then we are doomed for good. The culture of exporting raw materials makes us suffer twice; we embrace depressed prices because of dealing directly with global monopolies, but more seriously jobs are created elsewhere, limiting our production knowledge and skills at the village level.
There are two possible strategies for wooing investments in crop processing and final production of its related goods.
One way is to provide tailored incentives for processing every kind of major cash crop produced. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) could be provided with incentives that would make them feel comfortable in getting partners wishing to locate plants right here, train our people in all business facets with an aim of treating our farm products as ’total crops’.
Secondly, some of our co-operative unions are very powerful organisations financially, only that they have been mismanaged over time.
Under the control of judicious managements, these can pool together resources and establish their own crop processing plants, just as dairy consumer co-operatives are doing.
In the beginning, they might require technical advice in such critical areas as choice of technology or franchise.
This way, we would also be directly addressing the brain drain which badly needs to be redirected in any development strategy, for in the globalisation context, knowledge is the most important ingredient.
Its time now to drink cappuccinos at international airports with brands from some African countries which produce coffee. This would fairly conform to current strategies for reducing poverty.
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