Zeitschriftenartikel zum Thema „Ethiopian sugar industry“

This paper presents the recycling of sugar cane bagasse ash from the Omo-Kuraz sugar factory in Ethiopia as a cement replacement in concrete that offers a suitable solution to environmental issues related to waste disposal management and the emission of greenhouse gases. The influence of bagasse ash as a cementing material in concrete was examined by performing several strength and durability experiments. From a strength perspective, compressive and splitting tensile strength were tested. As part of durability properties, carbonation and chloride penetrability of bagasse ash concrete was studied. Bagasse ash-based concrete mixes were produced with different cement replacements (10% - 40%) and were tested at different curing periods. As per the strength and durability test results, bagasse ash can be utilized as a cementing material in concrete with 10% cement replacement as the optimum quantity. The durability test results revealed bagasse ash doesn’t have adverse effects from carbonation and chloride penetrability perspective on concrete. This indicates that the Ethiopian construction industry can consider bagasse ash as nonconventional cementing material. Keywords: Bagasse ash, Compressive strength, Sorptivity, Tensile strength, Workability

Global energy security relies on fossil-based resources that are affiliated with the source of global warming, apart from punches of political and economic instabilities. Biomass is a promising alternative carbonaceous feedstock used for the production of clean energy that could have the potential to substitute for fossil fuels. This study aims to present a conceptual design that considers the criteria to identify the upper theoretical limits of biomass conversion, thus providing the potential approach to the conversion of three biomass (by-products: dry molasses, dry bagasse, and dry filter cake) through gasification, in order to contribute the biomass carbon-capturing by the model assessment of stoichiometric mass conversion and energy efficiency indicators into simple thermodynamic energy vectors, such as alcohols, alkanes, and syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen). Modeling plays up the importance of stoichiometric efficiency of biomass conversion with the supply of oxygen and hydrogen. This realizes that the multi-product diversification of feedstock into syngas, hydrocarbons, and alcohol through integrated process schemes could have the potential to fill the energy gap and help to manage environmental load. In regard to biomass conversion results, the mass conversion and energy conversion efficiencies of dry bagasse have better conversion potential than molasses and F. cake (% mass conversion = 129 in syngas, 54.4 in alkane, and 43.4 in alcohol; % energy conversion = 94.3 in syngas and 93.3 in alkane and alcohol).

While the organization of the Philippine sugar industry evolved to promote and balance the short-term interests of planters, millers and traders, it now undermines the industry and threatens the economic fortunes of those who depend upon it. By perpetuating inefficiency and fostering a frenzy of trading that affords inordinate profits for the least productive sector, this structure has become the major obstacle to restoring the Philippines to its former status as one of the world's most efficient and technologically advanced producers of cane sugar. As efficiency falls further behind that of other sugar producing countries, and as industrial consumers become more disgruntled with paying high prices for sugar, the nation risks the collapse of an industry that has already proven vulnerable to intermittent crises. The last time a crisis occurred — in the mid-1980s — planters faced foreclosure, mills stood idle, and workers and their families suffered malnutrition and dislocation, leading commentators to refer to Negros, the nation's premier sugar-growing island, as “Asia's Ethiopia” and a “social volcano”. While conditions have improved since the EDSA Revolution, the structure that has emerged does little to encourage productivity, efficiency and fairness. Since the industry continues to employ 500,000 workers, with as many as three million dependents, a collapse would lead to mass displacement, hunger, and political upheaval.This paper will outline the history of the Philippine sugar industry, examine its current structure, and describe the political and economic forces that sustain it. My first contention is that the institutional organization, rather than government policy, cultural attitudes, or neo-colonial dependency, is fundamentally responsible for the poor performance of the industry in recent decades and, unless major changes are forthcoming, will be mainly responsible for its ultimate demise.

This review was conducted with the objective of assessing the major potential of non-conventional feed resources in poultry nutrition in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a vast array of non-conventional feed resources that can be utilized in poultry nutrition. These resources have the potential to significantly contribute This review was conducted with the objective of assessing the major potential of non-conventional feed resources to the growth and development of the poultry industry in the country. Potentially available of non-conventional feed resources (NCFR) include plant materials, such as the leaves and seeds of Moringa, Cassava, Taro leaf, Mango seed kernels, Pigeon pea, potato peel and leaf and agro-industrial by-products like, Rice bran, Filter sugar cake and brewery grain. Most of these feedstuff materials are low in energy, protein and minerals. These feed resource contain high amounts of anti-nutritional component. Appropriate processing methods like soaking, boiling, or fermenting can help reduce these anti-nutritional factors, enhancing the digestibility and utilization of NCFR in poultry diets. There are also several challenges and limitations that need to be addressed in order to fully exploit the potential of these feed resources. Some of the common problems are like limited knowledge and awareness, lack of processing and preservation techniques, limited availability and seasonal variations, lack of infrastructure and storage facilities and limited research and data. To addressing these challenges through research, extension services, and policy support can help unlock the full potential of non-conventional feed resources in poultry nutrition in Ethiopia. This would not only contribute to improved productivity and profitability in the poultry sector but also enhance food security and sustainable agricultural practices in the country.

Sustainable Agriculture Research wishes to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Their help and contributions in maintaining the quality of the journal are greatly appreciated. Sustainable Agriculture Research is recruiting reviewers for the journal. If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, we welcome you to join us. Please contact us for the application form at: sar@ccsenet.org   Reviewers for Volume 11, Number 4 Boutheina Zougari, Regional Research Centre of Oasis Agriculture-Degache, Tunisia Darwin Pangaribuan, Lampung University, Indonesia Jiban Shrestha, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal Luciano Chi, Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute, Belize Luis F. Pina, Universidad de Chile, Chile Minfeng Tang, Kansas State University, USA Momin Momin, Istanbul University, Bangladesh Nehemie Tchinda Donfagsiteli, Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies, Cameroon Patrice Ngatsi Zemko, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon Tenaw Workayehu, Hawassa Research Center, Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia

Sustainable Agriculture Research wishes to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Their help and contributions in maintaining the quality of the journal are greatly appreciated. Sustainable Agriculture Research is recruiting reviewers for the journal. If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, we welcome you to join us. Please contact us for the application form at: sar@ccsenet.org Reviewers for Volume 11, Number 3 Bed Mani Dahal, Kathmandu University, Nepal Boutheina Zougari, Regional Research Centre of Oasis Agriculture-Degache, Tunisia Jiban Shrestha, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal Katarzyna Panasiewicz, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland Luciano Chi, Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute, Belize Luis F. Pina, Universidad de Chile, Chile Manuel Teles Oliveira, University Tras os Montes Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal Minfeng Tang, Kansas State University, USA Patrice Ngatsi Zemko, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon Tenaw Workayehu, Hawassa Research Center, Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia Waqar Majeed, University of Agriculture, Pakistan

Sustainable Agriculture Research wishes to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Their help and contributions in maintaining the quality of the journal are greatly appreciated. Sustainable Agriculture Research is recruiting reviewers for the journal. If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, we welcome you to join us. Please contact us for the application form at: sar@ccsenet.org Reviewers for Volume 10, Number 4 Aaron Norris, Texas Tech University, USA Bed Mani Dahal, Kathmandu University, Nepal Darwin Pangaribuan, Lampung University, Indonesia Jiban Shrestha, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal Katarzyna Panasiewicz, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland Luciano Chi, Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute, Belize Manuel Teles Oliveira, University Tras os Montes Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal Patrice Ngatsi Zemko, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon Roberto José Zoppolo, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (Uruguay), Uruguay Tenaw Workayehu, Hawassa Research Center, Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia Waqar Majeed, University of Agriculture, Pakistan

Even before the abolition of slavery on 1 February 1835, planters on Mauritius had begun to look for free agricultural labourers to work their estates. By the early 1830s, it had become apparent that the local slave population was inadequate to meet the labour needs of the colony's rapidly expanding sugar industry, and the long-term availability of this soon-to-be emancipated work force was also increasingly open to question as the decade progressed. The Act of Abolition promised owners the services of their former slaves, now transformed into ‘apprentices’, as agricultural labourers, but only for a period of six years. Some planters no doubt suspected that the apprenticeship system might come to an end earlier than scheduled, as indeed was to happen in 1839. Others had good reason to suspect that many, if not most, of their apprentices would leave the plantations upon their final emancipation, as indeed they subsequently did. Faced with these realities, Mauritian planters dispatched their agents as far afield as China, Singapore, Ethiopia and Madagascar to search out supplies of inexpensive labour. Their gaze returned continually, however, to the relative close and seemingly inexhaustible manpower of India.

Sustainable Agriculture Research wishes to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Their help and contributions in maintaining the quality of the journal are greatly appreciated. Sustainable Agriculture Research is recruiting reviewers for the journal. If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, we welcome you to join us. Please contact us for the application form at: sar@ccsenet.org Reviewers for Volume 11, Number 1 Aaron Norris, Texas Tech University, USA Bed Mani Dahal, Kathmandu University, Nepal Darwin Pangaribuan, Lampung University, Indonesia Jiban Shrestha, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal Katarzyna Panasiewicz, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland Luciano Chi, Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute, Belize Manuel Teles Oliveira, University Tras os Montes Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal Patrice Ngatsi Zemko, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon Ram Niwas, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, India Roberto José Zoppolo, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (Uruguay), Uruguay Tenaw Workayehu, Hawassa Research Center, Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia Waqar Majeed, University of Agriculture, Pakistan

The Government of Ethiopia is trying to improve sugar industry sector by establishing new factories, expansion projects and rehabilitation of existing ones. The main input in this process is agricultural mechanization; however it has been resulted in a huge number of farm machinery of various types and sizes, without consideration of proper selection and matching between tractors and their attachments (implements). This approach had led to high cost of agricultural operation, resulted in an unbalanced distribution of machinery and the agricultural operations throughout the years. Wonji Shoa Sugar factory is one of the victims of the aforementioned problem. The present study was conducted to evaluate the current farm machinery selection practices of Wonji Shoa Sugar Factory. Three soil types namely; heavy clay, vertisol and sandy loam were selected with four field activities (subsoiling, ploughing, harrowing and furrowing). For subsoiling, ploughing and harrowing, 9410-R John Deer tractor with implements of 5 shank and 3.2 m wide mounted subsoiler, 2.8 m wide double gang offset disc plough, and 3.5 m wide semi mounted four gangs double offset were used respectively. For furrowing YTO-1804 tractor and a four bottom fully mounted 4.5 m wide rider was used. For each experiment, the draft force requirement of the implements, the drawbar power, fuel consumption, overall energy efficiency and power utilization ratio were determined at different tractor travel speeds. Subsoiling, ploughing and harrowing were activities were evaluated at the travel speed of w 3, 4, 5 and 6 km/hr. And a travel speed of 4, 5, 6 and 7 km/hr were used for furrowing operation. Linear regression tests were run to examine the interactions between the factors and determine their significant impact. The results of this study noted for furrowing operation as lowest draft force, drawbar power, fuel consumption and energy efficiency of 14 kN, 12.65kW, 13 lit/hr and 8.7 % respectively in sandy loam soil type. The maximum Draft force of 79.8 kW and drawbar power of 131 kW was noted for subsoiling operation in Heavy clay soil. Moreover the results of all operation in all soil type, as indicated by both overall energy efficiency and power utilization factor shows the mismatch between the tractor and implements, as the tractors were overpowered. That means a less amount of the available power from the tractor is being used to operate the implement. If the tractor had been matched with a bigger and compatible implement a better efficiency and higher productivity of the tractor implement combination could have been achieved.

Sustainable Agriculture Research wishes to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Their help and contributions in maintaining the quality of the journal are greatly appreciated. Sustainable Agriculture Research is recruiting reviewers for the journal. If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, we welcome you to join us. Please contact us for the application form at: sar@ccsenet.org   Reviewers for Volume 10, Number 3 Giuseppina Migliore, University of Palermo, Italy Inder Pal Singh, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science University(GADVASU), India Katarzyna Panasiewicz, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland Luciano Chi, Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute, Belize Manuel Teles Oliveira, University Tras os Montes Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal Maria Lúcia Pato, CERNAS-IPV Research Centre, Portugal Murtazain Raza, Subsidiary of Habib Bank AG Zurich, Pakistan Nehemie Tchinda Donfagsiteli, Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies, Cameroon Nicusor-Flavius Sima, University of Agricultural Studies and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania Ram Niwas, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, India Samuel Obae, University of Connecticut, United States Tenaw Workayehu, Hawassa Research Center, Southern Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia

This study investigates the concentrations of physicochemical and heavy metal contaminants in the groundwater of the Middle Awash Basin, Ethiopia, to inform targeted water management strategies. A total of 32 groundwater samples were collected from 16 stations via piezometers and boreholes at the end of both the dry (June 2021) and wet (October 2021) seasons. Utilizing Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), and in situ metering, 22 physicochemical and 24 heavy metal parameters were analyzed. The data revealed significant levels of contamination; notably, sample GW11 had extraordinarily high concentrations of total dissolved solids (10,826 mg/L), strontium (908 µg/L), molybdenum (802.4 µg/L), zinc (6060 µg/L), and electrical conductivity (15,645 µS/cm), while GW12 exhibited elevated levels of aluminum (2615 µg/L), zinc (4446 µg/L), and arsenic (117.2 µg/L). Contaminants such as arsenic, vanadium, gallium, lithium, rubidium, chromium, manganese, copper, and zinc were found enriched in groundwater near Lake Beseka, majorly influenced by geogenic activities, volcanic ash, and weathering of rocks. The sampled waters might be affected by human activities including agricultural runoff from sugarcane plantations, sugar factories wastewaters, and agro-industry activities (decade’s activities). Over half of the groundwater sources were unsuitable for drinking, posing significant health risks to local communities that rely heavily on these sources due to limited access to clean surface water. The findings emphasize the urgent need for comprehensive groundwater management and remediation plans in the Middle Awash region to ensure safe and sustainable water use, particularly addressing the variation in contamination levels influenced by Lake Beseka. These measures are critical to protect public health and support local development in the face of ongoing environmental and anthropogenic pressures.

The third issue of Slovak Journal of Animal Science 2023 gives to me the possibility to discuss the innovative and sustainable multi-service approach of scientific community to boost and develop, in terms of competitiveness and profitability, the livestock farming system. The challenge of managing increasing quantity of waste, particularly from agro-food industry, represents a significant cost to society and puts pressure on the natural environment. But this by-product material also represents a valuable resource, which can be exploited by embracing a more circular economy that reduces waste and allows for the continual use of resources. Today's "take-make-dispose" economic model is wasteful and unsustainable. Research institutes, enterprises, academic institutes are therefore plotting ways to reuse products or their components via the circular economy and restore more of their precious materials and energy. This practice will help to conserve environment and to protect society from the impacts of climate change. On the other hand, it has been commonly used the definition "non-conventional feed resources" that generally refer to all those feeds that have not been traditionally used for feeding livestock and are not commercially used in the production of livestock feeds. Several known examples include palm leaf meals, palm press fiber, cassava foliage, spent brewer's grains, sugar cane bagasse, rubber seed meal and some aquatic plants. Defined in this manner non-conventional feed resources (NCFR) can be looked at as covering a wide diversity of feeds and their nutrient contents. A common feature about feeds is that the traditional feeds tend to be mainly from annual crops and feeds of animal and industrial origin. In this sense, the usage of "non-conventional feed resources" could really be more appropriately referred to as "new feeds", and this term is increasingly being used. Thus the term NCFR has been frequently used to describe sources such as oil palm by-products, single-cell proteins and feed materials derived from agro-industrial by-products of plant and animal origin, poor-quality cellulosic roughages from farm residues and other agro- industrial by-products such as slaughter-house by-products and those from the processing of sugar, cereal grains, citrus fruits and vegetables from the processing of food for human consumption. However, it is sometimes difficult to draw a distinct line between traditional feeds and NCFR. In some countries what may now be classified as NCFR may in fact be conventional / traditional owing to the fact that it may have been in use as livestock feed over a long time, an example is wheat straw which is very widely used in South Asian countries, in addition, the availability of NCFR, especially of plant origin, is dependent to a large extent on the type of crops being cultivated and the prevailing degree of application of the crop technology. In the framework of applied science as tool for livestock practice, to successfully control reproduction, obtain primary genetic material, gametes, oocytes, eggs and spermatozoa in the field of reproduction, the use of various biotechnological methods has been practiced for many years. Artificial insemination of livestock has been a staple technology for producers worldwide for over sixty years. This reproductive technology has allowed for the rapid improvement of livestock genetics, most notably in dairy cattle and pigs. The primary benefit of utilizing artificial insemination is the ability to rapidly improve the genetic quality of a herd using a premier male animal's genetics without a producer having to purchase that specific male. Despite its massive contributions to livestock production, there are numerous ways in which artificial insemination can be improved. These improvements are driven by new technologies and deeper understanding of reproductive physiology. In the third Editorial article of 2023, I am going to introduce the contents of the articles collected and published in the third issue of 2023 year. Agbetuyi et al. investigated on broiler chickens to determine the dietary effect on organoleptic attributes, tibia bone growth and mineral retention feeding Moringa oleifera leaf powder and Allium sativum bulb powder. Authors recommended the safe and profitable usage in animal feed industry in the extend of 1 % of Moringa oleifera leaf powder and 0.1 % of Allium sativum bulb powder. Akinduro et al. designed a study to investigate the effect of fermented dried pawpaw seed fed at varying level of inclusion in the diets of broiler chicken at finisher stage on their general performance, carcass and organs characteristics. The result of this study showed that the use of the fermented dried pawpaw seed flour can be tolerated up to about 10 % inclusion as it gave the lowest FCR (feed conversion ratio) which could bring about high profitability, hence, encourage more people to go into Poultry business. Olanloye et al. published a study aimed at predicting and evaluating the variation in the amino acids of cassava roots from their crude protein. The results indicated that equations generated for Total Essential Amino acid (TEA) and Total Amino Acid (TAA) revealed that r2 increased as the number of variables increased. Prediction equations generated values for TEA and TAA of cassava roots were much close to the actual values obtained. Mekonnen & Berhe performed a survey to assess the efficiency and role of artificial insemination (AI) service in cattle production in the Western Zone of Tigray Region, Ethiopia. The overall conception rate at first insemination (CRFI) was also very poor and thus calving rate (CR) was poor. The approach of the artificial insemination service system should be revised and modified to improve the existing poor AI reproductive efficiency. Editorial Team looks forward to evaluating your submitted contributions and providing all necessary support to Authors in order to best serve animal science and the scientific community, with commitment to research integrity and the highest publishing ethics. Enjoy reading!

AbstractFermentation of cereal-made dough was the primary Ethiopian food for many years. Sourdough is believed to have many beneficial fermenting micro-floras depending on the source of dough and environmental conditions. The study aimed to isolate and characterize yeasts from fermenting cereal dough and evaluate their leavening potential for wheat dough. Morphological and biochemical characterizations such as sugar fermentation, glucose tolerance test, growth at different pH and temperatures, and agitation effect were employed to select potent yeasts. Accordingly, 16 potential yeast isolates were selected and subjected to further analysis. Finally, the yeasts were tested and compared for their leavening activity on the wheat dough at 37 °C and room temperature. Results revealed marvelous CO2 producer mesophile yeasts that degrade various sugars and tolerate up to 60% glucose concentration. The overall characterization assigned all the yeast isolates to the genus Saccharomyces and the Candida humilis. ANOVA showed that leavening activity by the yeast isolates was statistically higher at 37 °C compared to room temperature. The highest dough volume (6.2 mL) was recorded from Wh17, Wh5, and Ba12 isolates. Sor9 isolates were among the yeast that raised a minimum dough volume (0.7 mL). In contrast to commercial yeasts, the present study detected exceptional yeasts that matured within 24 h. Therefore, the discovered potential yeasts can be used for leavening dough in a short fermentation time and add aroma to baked products, making them a candidate in the baking industry. It could also be cost-effective as it could reduce media consumption and electricity utilization.

Introduction: Noncommunicable diseases (e.g. type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease) are the leading cause of death globally and among adults in Ethiopia. Suboptimal diet (with high intake of sugar, salt, and saturated fat) is a major risk factor for such diseases and the consumption of processed foods rich in these nutrients is rising globally. Mandatory nutrition information on packaged foods, potentially with warning labels, can guide consumers and create healthier food environments. However, such information is lacking in many countries, including Ethiopia. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that the display of nutrition information (including sugar, sodium, and saturated fat) would be low on packaged foods and beverages in Ethiopia. Methods: A database of packaged foods was created in 2021 from an assessment across 18 markets within Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The analysis included 1388 products in four major food categories (cereals; snack foods; sweets; and beverages). Results: In total, 880 (63%) products displayed nutrient content information. This was most common among cereals (73%), and least common in snack food (43%) (Table 1). For specific nutrients, the display of sodium/salt (38%) was similar to sugar (35%) and saturated fat (34%). This discrepancy was highest in the beverages category. Conclusion: Nutrition labeling was incomplete in four major packaged food categories in Ethiopia. Fewer than half of snack foods displayed any nutrient content information, and while nearly three-fourths of cereals had some label, data on all three nutrients (sugar, sodium, and saturated fat) was missing on more than half of these products. Mandatory warning labels will allow consumers to assess the nutrient content of packaged foods and may encourage reformulation by industry to meet consumer demand and avoid placement of warning labels on their products.

In the 1980s, an extremely successful Nescafé Gold Blend coffee advertising campaign dared to posit, albeit subliminally, that a love relationship was inextricably linked to coffee. Over several years, an on-again off-again love affair appeared to unfold onscreen; its ups and downs narrated over shared cups of coffee. Although the association between the relationship and Gold Blend was loose at best, no direct link was required (O’Donohoe 62). The campaign’s success was its reprisal of the cultural myth prevalent in the West that coffee and love, coffee and relationships, indeed coffee and intimacy, are companionate items. And, the more stable lover, it would seem, is available on the supermarket shelf. Meeting for coffee, inviting a potential lover in for a late-night cup of coffee, or scheduling a business meeting in an espresso bar are clichés that refer to coffee consumption but have little to do with the actual product. After all, many a tea-drinker will invite friends or acquaintances “for coffee.” This is neatly acknowledged in a short romantic scene in the lauded feature film Good Will Hunting (1997) in which a potential lover’s suggestion of meeting for coffee is responded to smartly by the “genius” protagonist Will, “Maybe we could just get together and eat a bunch of caramels. [...] When you think about it, it’s just as arbitrary as drinking coffee.” It was a date, regardless. Many in the coffee industry will argue that coffee—rather than tea, or caramel—is legendary for its intrinsic capacity to foster and ignite new relationships and ideas. Coffee houses are repeatedly cited as the heady location for the beginnings of institutions from major insurance business Lloyd’s of London to the Boston Tea Party, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of novels, and even Western Australian indie band Eskimo Joe. This narrative images the coffee house and café as a setting that supports ingenuity, success, and passion. It is tempting to suggest that something intrinsic in coffee renders it a Western social lubricant, economic powerhouse, and, perhaps, spiritual prosthesis. This paper will, however, argue that the social and cultural production of “coffee” cannot be dissociated from feeling. Feelings of care, love, inspiration, and desire constellate around “coffee” in a discourse of warm, fuzzy affect. I suggest that this blooming of affect is not superfluous but, instead, central to the way in which coffee is produced, represented and consumed in Western mass culture. By exploring the currently fashionable practice of “direct trade” between roasters and coffee growers as represented on the Websites of select Western roasting companies, the repetition of this discourse is abundantly clear. Here, the good feelings associated with cross-cultural friendship are figured as the condition and reward for the production of high quality coffee beans. Money, it seems, does not buy happiness—but good quality coffee can. Good (Colonial) Feelings Before exploring the discursive representation of friendship and good feeling among the global coffee community with regard to direct trade, it is important to account for the importance of feeling as a narrative strategy with political affects and effects. In her discussion of “happy objects,” cultural theorist of emotion Sara Ahmed argues that specific objects are associated with feelings of happiness. She gives the telling example of coffee as an object intimately tied with happy feeling within the family. So you make coffee for the family, and you know “just“ how much sugar to put in this cup and that. Failure to know this “just“ is often felt as a failure of care. Even if we do not experience the same objects as being pleasurable, sharing the family means sharing happy objects, both in the sense of sharing knowledge (of what makes others happy) and also in the sense of distributing the objects in the right way (Ahmed, Promise 47). This idea is derived from Ahmed’s careful consideration of affective economies. She suggests emotions neither belong to, or are manufactured by, discrete individuals. Rather, emotions are formed through social exchange. Relieved of imagining the individual as the author of affect, we can consider the ways in which affect circulates as a product in a broad, vitalising economy of feeling (Ahmed, Affective 121). In the example above, feelings of care and intimacy attached to coffee-making produce the happy family, or more precisely, the fleeting instant of the family-as-happy. The condition of this good feeling is not attributable to the coffee as product nor the family as fundamentally happy but rather the rippling of happy feeling through sharing of the object deemed happy. A little too much sugar and happiness is thwarted, affect wanes; the coffee is now bad(-feeling). If we return briefly to the Nescafé Gold Blend campaign and, indeed, Good Will Hunting, we can postulate following Ahmed that the coffee functions as a love object. Proximity to coffee is identified by its apparent causation of love-effects. In this sense, “doing coffee” means making a fleeting cultural space for feeling love, or feeling good. But what happens when we turn from the good feeling of consumption to the complex question of coffee production and trade? How might good feeling attach to the process of procuring coffee beans? In this case, the way in which good feeling seems to “stick to” coffee in mass culture needs to be augmented with consideration of its status as a global commodity traded across sociopolitical, economic, cultural and national borders. Links between coffee and colonialism are long established. From the Dutch East India Company to the feverish enthusiasm to purchase mass plantations by multinational corporations, coffee, colonialism and practices of slavery and indentured labour are intertwined (Lyons 18-19). As a globally traded commodity across a range of political regimes and national borders, tracing the postcolonial and neocolonial relations between multinational companies, small upscale boutique roasters, plantation owners, coffee bean co-ops, regulatory bodies, and workers is complex at best. In what may appear a tangential approach, it is nonetheless instructive to consider that colonial relations are constituted through affective components that support and fuel economic and political exchange (Stoler, Haunted). Again, Ahmed offers a useful context for the relationship between the imperative toward happiness and colonial representation. The civilizing mission can be redescribed as a happiness mission. For happiness to become a mission, the colonized other must be first deemed unhappy. The imperial archive can be described as an archive of unhappiness. Colonial knowledges constitute the other as not only an object of knowledge, a truth to be discovered, but as being unhappy, as lacking the qualities or attributes required for a happier state of existence (Ahmed, Promise 125). The colonising aspect of the relations Ahmed describes includes the “mission” to construct Others as unhappy. Understood as happiness detractors, colonial Others become objects that threaten the radiant appeal of happiness as part of an imperial moral economy. Hence, it is the happiness of the colonisers that is secured through the disavowal of the feelings of Others. Moreover, by documenting colonial unhappiness, colonising forces justify the sanctity of happiness-making through violence. As Ann Stoler affirms, “Colonial states had a strong interest in affective knowledge and a sophisticated understanding of affective politics” (Carnal 142). Colonising discourses, then, are inextricably linked to regimes of sense and feeling. Stoler also writes that European-ness was established through cultivation of an inner sense of self-worth associated with ethics, individuality and autonomy (Haunted 157). The development of a sense of belonging to Europe was hence executed through feeling good in both moral and affective senses of the word. Although Stoler argues her case in terms of the affective politics of colonial sexualities and desire, her work is highly instructive for its argument that emotion is crucial to structures of power in colonial regimes. Bringing Stoler’s work into closer proximity with Ahmed’s postulation of State happiness and its objects, I am now going to suggest that coffee is a palimpsestic cultural site at which to explore the ways in which the politics of good feeling obscure discomforting and complex questions of power, exploitation, and disadvantage in global economies of coffee production and consumption. Direct Trade In the so-called “third wave” specialty coffee market that is enjoying robust growth in Australia, America, and Europe, “direct trade” across the globe between roasters and plantation owners is consistently represented as friendly and intimate despite vast distances and cultural difference. The “third wave” is a descriptor that, as John Manzo describes in his sociological exploration of coffee connoisseurship in privileged Western online and urban fora, refers to coffee enthusiasts interested in brewing devices beyond high-end espresso machines such as the cold drip, siphon, or pour-over. Jillian Adams writes further that third wavers: Appreciate the flavour nuances of single estate coffee; that is coffee that is sourced from single estates, farms, or villages in coffee growing regions. When processed carefully, it will have a distinctive flavour and taste profile that reflects the region and the culture of the coffee production (2). This focus on single estate or “single origin” coffee refers to beans procured from sections of estates and plantations called micro-lots, which are harvested and processed in a controlled manner.The third wave trend toward single origin coffees coincides with the advent of direct trade. Direct trade refers to the growing practice of bypassing “middlemen” to source coffee beans from plantations without appeal to or restriction by regulatory bodies. Rather, as I will show below, relationships and partnerships between growers and importers are imagined as sites of goodwill and good feeling. This focus on interpersonal relationships and friendships cannot be disarticulated from the broader cross-cultural context at stake. The relationships associated with direct trade invariably take place across borders that are also marked by economic, cultural and political differences in which privileged Western buyers engage with non-Western growers on low incomes. Drawing from Ahmed’s concern that the politics of good feeling is tied to colonial nostalgia, it is compelling to suggest that direct trade is haunted by discourses of colonisation. At this point of intersection, I suggest that Western mass cultural associations of coffee with ease, intimacy and pure intentions invite consumers to join a neocolonial saga through partaking in imagined communities of global coffee friends. Particularly popular in Australia and America, direct trade is espoused by key third wave coffee roasters in Melbourne, Portland and Seattle. Melbourne Coffee Merchants are perhaps the most well-known importers of directly traded green bean in Australia. On their Web page they describe the importance of sharing good feelings about high quality coffee: “We aim to share, educate, and inspire, and get people as excited about quality coffee as we are.” A further page describing the Merchants’s mission explains, “Growers are treated as partners in the mission to get the worlds [sic] finest beans into the hands of discerning customers.” The quality of excitement that circulates through the procuring of green beans is related to the deemed partnership between Merchants and the growers. That is, it is not the fact of the apparent partnership or its banality that is important, but the treating of growers as partners that signifies Merchants’s mission to generate good feeling. This is a slight but crucial distinction. Treating the growers as partners participates in an affective economy of excitement and inspiration—how the growers feel is, presumably, in want of such partnership.Not dissimilarly, Five Senses Coffee, boutique roasters in Melbourne and Perth, offer an emotional bonus with the purchase of directly traded coffees. “So go on, select one of our Direct Trade products and bask in the warm glow you get knowing that the farmer who grew the beans that you’re enjoying is reaping the rewards too!” The rewards that the growers are deemed to be receiving are briefly explained in blog posts on the Five Senses news Web page. I am not suggesting that these friendships and projects are not legitimate. Rather, the willingness of Five Senses to negotiate rates with growers and provide the community with an English teacher, for example, fuels an economy of Westerners’s good feelings and implies conventional trading produces unhappiness. This obscures grounds for concern that the provision of an English teacher might indeed serve the interests of colonising discourses. Perhaps a useful entry point into this narrative form is founded in the recently self-published book Coffee Trails by Toby Smith, founder of boutique Australian roaster Toby’s Estate. The book is described on the Toby’s Estate Web page as follows:Filled with personal anecdotes and illustrating his relationships developed over years of visiting the farmers to source his coffee beans, Smith’s commentary of his travels, including a brush with Jamaican customs officials and a trip to a notoriously dangerous Ethiopian market, paints an authentic picture of the colourful countries that produce the second most traded product in the world. [...] Coffee Trails has been Smith’s labour of love over the past two years and the end product is a wonderfully personal account of a man fulfilling his lifelong dream and following his passion across the world. Again, the language of “passion” and “love” registers direct trade coffee as a happy object. Furthermore, despite the fact that coffee is also grown in Australia, the countries that are most vivid in the epic imagination are those associated with “exotic” locations such as Ethiopia and Jamaica. This is arguably registered through the sense that these locations were where Smith encountered danger. Having embarked on a version of the quintessential hero’s journey, Smith can be seen as devoted to, and inspired by, his love-object. His brushes with uncivilised authorities and locations carry the undertones of a colonial imaginary, in which it can be argued Smith’s Western-ness is established and secured as goodwill-invoking. After all, he locates and develops relationships with farmers and buys their coffee which, following the logic of happy objects, disperses and shares good feelings.Gloria Jean’s Coffees, which occupies a similar market position in Australia to the multinational “specialty” coffee company Starbucks (Lyons), also participates in the dispersal of coffee as a happy object despite its mass scale of production and lack of direct trade capability (not unexpectedly, Starbucks hosts a Relationships campaign aimed at supporting humanitarian initiatives and communities). Gloria Jean’s campaign With Heart allocates resources to humanitarian activities in local Australian communities and worldwide in coffee-growing regions. Their Web page states: “With Heart is woven throughout Gloria Jeans Coffee houses and operations by the active participation of Franchise Partners, support office and team members and championed across Australia, by our With Heart Ambassadors.“ The associative message is clear: Gloria Jean’s Coffees is a company indissociable from “heart,” or perhaps loving care, for community.By purchasing coffee, Gloria Jean’s customers can be seen to be supporting heartening community projects, and are perhaps unwittingly working as ambassadors for the affective economy in which proximity to the happy object—the heart-centred coffee company—indicates the procurement of happiness for someone, somewhere. The sale of good feeling enables specialty coffee companies such as Gloria Jean’s to bypass market opportunities associated with Fair Trade regulatory provisions, which, as Carl Obermiller et al. find in their study of Fair Trade buying patterns, also profit from consumers’ purchase of good feeling associated with ethically-produced objects. Instead, assuring consumers of its heart-centredness, Gloria Jean’s Coffees is represented as an embodiment not of fairness but kindness, and perhaps love, for others. The iconography and history of direct trade coffee is most closely linked to Intelligentsia Coffee of Chicago in the USA. Intelligentsia describes its third wave roasting and training business as the first to engage in direct trade in 2003. Its Web page includes an image of an airplane to which the following pop-up is linked: “Our focus is not just identifying quality coffee, but developing and rewarding it. To do this means preserving and developing strong relationships despite the considerable distance. At any given time, there is at least one Intelligentsia buyer at origin.” This text raises the question of what constitutes quality coffee. It would appear that “quality coffee” is knowledge that Intelligentsia owns, and which is rewarded financially when replicated to the satisfaction of Intelligentsia. The strength of the relationships in this interaction is closely linked to the meeting of clear conditions and expectations. Indeed, we are reassured that “at any time” an Intelligentsia buyer is applying these conditions to the product. Quality, then, is at least in part achieved by Intelligentsia through its commitment to travelling long distances to oversee the activities and practices of growers. This paternalistic structure is figured in terms of “strong relationships” rather than, perhaps, a rigorous and shrewd business model (which is assumedly the province of mass-market Others).Amid numerous examples found in even a cursory search on the Web, the overwhelming message of direct trade is of good feeling through care. Long term relationships, imagined as virtuous despite the opacity of the negotiation procedure in most cases, narrates the conviction that relationship in and of itself is a good in what might be called the colonial redramatisation staked by an affective coffee economy. Conclusion: Mourning CoffeeIn a paper on happiness, it might appear out of place to reference grief. Yet Jacques Derrida’s explication of friendship in his rousing collection The Work of Mourning is instructive. He writes that death is accommodated and acknowledged “in the undeniable anticipation of mourning that constitutes friendship” (159). Derrida maintains close attention to the productivity and intensity of Otherness in mourning. Thus, friendship is structurally dependent on impending loss, and it follows that there can be no loss without recognising the Otherness of the other, as it were. Given indifference to difference and, hence, loss, it is possible to interpret the friendships affirmed within direct trade practices as supported by a kind of mania. The exuberant dispersal of good feeling through directly traded coffee is narrated by emotional journeys to the primordial beginnings of the happy-making object. That is, fixation upon the object’s brief survival in “primitive” circumstances before its perfect demise in the cup of discerning Western clientele suggests a process of purification through colonising Western knowledges and care. If I may risk a misappropriation of Sara Ahmed’s words; so you make the trip to origin, and you know “just” what to pay for this bean and that. 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