Coffee, one of the most universal products on the planet, carries a paradox that is difficult to ignore: while its roots grow only in the soils of the Greater South —in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab world and Asia— the greatest economic value is captured in the North. In 2021, Europe accounted for 39% of global coffee exports, while the entire African continent represented only 7%. Germany, a country that does not produce coffee, exported green beans worth 635 million dollars, surpassing Uganda, Africa’s second-largest producer, which reached 559 million. The question is unavoidable: how can those who do not grow coffee profit more than those who cultivate it?
The figures reveal a structural injustice. In 2021, global coffee trade reached 36 billion dollars, not even counting the consumer market estimated at 466 billion dollars. Yet producing countries captured barely 5% of the final value, while more than 25 million smallholder farmers remain trapped in the volatility of commodity markets. Initiatives such as Fairtrade, though well-intentioned, have proven insufficient: they set minimum prices that fail to reflect the cost of living or production in each country, becoming guarantees for retailers in the North rather than ensuring a dignified profit margin for producers in the South.
In this context, the OSC Secretary-General stated firmly: “The state of affairs is not only abysmal, it is intolerable. Our coffee-producing countries —in Africa, in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the Arab world and in Asia— must come together to stabilise the markets for our farmers and to set prices that are authentically fair. We have done it before, in the case of oil; we can do it again, today, in the case of coffee.” His words highlight an historic urgency: moving from dependency to leadership in an industry that is both a symbol of global inequities and of the potential for endogenous development.
The OSC insists that the response lies not in partial solutions but in structural change with a forward-looking vision. This means investing in value addition within producing countries, encouraging the establishment of roasting, packaging and capsule production facilities; shifting certification costs to international buyers so they no longer burden smallholders; and above all, equipping new generations through technical and advanced training in coffee roasting, blending and value-chain management. It is about building national and regional capacities to transform coffee where it is actually grown, multiplying the benefits for local communities.
The challenge extends beyond coffee: it mirrors the wider struggles of the economies of the Greater South, caught in extractive models that export raw materials and re-import products with value added elsewhere. Transforming this dynamic demands strategic vision and cooperation. The OSC 2025–2026 Programme makes this clear: it calls for investment in high value-added industrialisation, endogenous technological innovation and sustainable agriculture, with coffee serving as a catalyst for a new model of development.
The lesson is stark. Coffee cannot remain a symbol of dependency; it must become an emblem of sovereignty. This requires producing countries to move from exporters of green beans to protagonists of the entire value chain. As the Secretary-General has affirmed: “Coffee represents the structural injustices we have suffered, but it also embodies the potential for endogenous development to be materialised into a tangible, prosperous and sustainable reality for our peoples.”
