IMF ”structural adjustment”: slave countries produce luxury goods for the west at the expense of self sufficiency, in exchange for printed money for the ruling class.
I'm not really surprised, because I already knew about it. What I don't know is why it happens. Is it more profitable to sell it than to consume it internally?
You can only grow coffee around the equator, and most countries in that part of the globe are not rich enough and/or don't have strong industries...
The transformation and the demand for the end product usually occurs where it is consumed.
It's the same with cacao, most of it comes from Côte d'Ivoire but most Ivoirian farmers don't even know what chocolate looks like.
The issue of processing makes perfect sense and should be the main cause. Both coffee and cocoa, after being processed, become very expensive for the producing countries. I found some information on the subject:
I also had the impression that Australians were very addicted to coffee. It is important to note that the data is per capita, which does not invalidate the existence of coffee addicts, but they are few in relation to the population.
It's true that coffee gives you energy, and that must be one of the reasons why, with so much cold weather, all you want to do is stay still in front of the fireplace or under the covers :)
Surprised to match the production with consumption of Coffee