Coffee drinkers urged to support growers

Two British Members of Parliament (MP) on Thursday urged coffee drinkers to use consumer power to get impoverished coffee growers a better deal. MPs John Barrett and Andy Reed made the call at the end of a four-day trip to Ethiopia. "I was stunned when I saw the living conditions of coffee growers," John Barrett said. "People in Britain would not believe that people live under these circumstances." Reed said that raising awareness was key to bringing about change. He urged shoppers in rich nations to buy coffee that helped poor farmers. Six months ago the charity Oxfam launched an international campaign to try and boost prices for third world coffee growers. It aims to force coffee onto the agenda of the G8 summit in Mexico later this year. Ethiopia is Africa's leading coffee exporter and the product generates vital income for the country's 67 million population. The huge slump in coffee prices has had a crippling effect.