Spatializing the coffee and cocaine supply chains: How regulation shapes the flow of commodities
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Date
2019-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Coffee and cocaine are two agricultural commodities produced in highland Colombia with a strong market demand in the U.S. as much-used stimulants. Both are perennial crops, have overlapping production areas, grow under similar climate conditions, require minimum processing, have a long shelf life, and command high prices in the global market. The primary difference, of course, is their legality. This research asks: (1) How does the legal status of a commodity shape the spatial and temporal character of its supply chain? (2) How do the financial and organizational elements of trade in these commodities compare? To answer these questions, I draw from (1) a review of secondary sources, including government reports, trade publications, and trade data from a variety of sources, including the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), the World Trade Organization, and the Consolidated Counterdrug Database, a unique application of data from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy; (2) I corroborated and clarified online data with telephone and in-person interviews with actors along the coffee supply chain in Colombia and in the U.S. Some preliminary findings for this ongoing research are: not only is the movement of these two commodities radically different, so are their pricing strategy and flow of capital; Colombian coffee is generally sold through the FNC (which acts as an intermediary) rather than directly to the U.S.; the temporal aspects of the two chains are surprisingly different, with cocaine moving much more quickly towards consumers than coffee. Finally, the seemingly simple decision of declaring the legality of a commodity has vast political, social, and economic implications for both the exporting and importing country. This research is novel in that it spatializes the cocaine commodity chain and bears direct comparison to the spatial and temporal nature of the coffee supply chain. It presents a unique side-by-side depiction of the supply chains of a licit and an illicit commodity. Ultimately, it highlights the critical role that regulation plays in shaping the spatial, temporal, financial, and organizational elements of two comparable agricultural commodities.
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Keywords
Colombia, Cocaine, Coffee, Supply Chain, Regulation