Running story
East Africa's hotly contested coffee sector

An important source of foreign currency, coffee exports are the subject of a power struggle between multinational trading companies and the region's coffee-producing countries, chief among which are Ethiopia and Kenya. While governments try to impose reforms designed to favour local producers and intermediaries, international traders, notably German and Swiss, seek to maintain their dominant position. Fuelling the stand-off are new European Union directives on traceability and the social and environmental impact of agricultural products, which will have major repercussions across the entire sector.