Prime Minister Meles Zenawi appears delighted last week at his office while  giving a joint press statement with Howard Schultz, chairman and chief global  strategist of Starbucks Corporation. The chief of Starbucks, along with Ethiopia’s  Ambassador to the United States, Samuel Assefa (PhD), came to Ethiopia last week to announce the establishment of Farmers Support Centre.
 

The Prime Minister expressed to the media his satisfaction with the deal, a landmark agreement between his administration and the 7.8 billion dollar global giant that runs over 15,000 coffee shops throughout the world. Oxfam International as well appears content with the agreement between these two parties, which will put an end to the public relations battle that has been waged against Starbucks over the company’s attempt to obtain brand rights over the names of Ethiopia’s regional coffee varieties. Previously, Oxfam claimed that giving brand rights over Ethiopian coffee to Starbucks would potentially rob Ethiopian farmers of 88 million dollars in profit each year.
 

Mr. Schultz made a public announcement at the Sheraton Addis on Friday, November 30, to Ethiopia’s young entrepreneurs before concluding his four day visit to Ethiopia. He spoke of balancing business with benevolence during the lecture that was jointly organized by the United States Embassy in Addis Abeba and the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office, which was the frontline federal agency that fought Starbuck’s claims over Ethiopia’s coffee brands – Harar, Yirgachefie and Sidamo – before the two parties reached an agreement back in May 2007.

Nevertheless, neither Prime Minister Meles nor Mr. Schultz shed light on the issue of how Ethiopia’s coffee farmers will benefit from the deal. Both hope that the promotion of Ethiopia’s coffee brands by buyers such as Starbucks will eventually result in benefits trickling down to the farmers, in whose interest both claim to be acting.