According to a report from OXFAM Global coffee giant Nestle is demanding millions of dollars from famine stricken Ethiopia –one of the poorest countries in the world with an average income of less than $2 a day. Ethiopia is currently facing a terrible drought which is already leaving over 11 million people facing hunger. This crisis has been made even worse by the collapse of world coffee prices – a quarter of the population is dependent on the coffee industry and Ethiopia relies on coffee for 60% of its exports.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chief Executive of Nestle has recognised that Nestle and other global companies will be held to account for more than running successful businesses, “ We are going to be asked…What have you done to help fight hunger in developing countries?”*
Yet Nestle is demanding that Ethiopia pay over $6 million in compensation for a business that was nationalised under a different government 27 years ago, a business that Nestle didn’t even own at the time.
$6 million could provide clean water to more than 4 million people in Ethiopia or build 6,500 wells in this drought ravaged country.
