Trading Coffee Through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange:

This research paper intends to study the Ethiopian coffee value chain in light of the recent creation –in 2008– of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). The ECX is Ethiopia’s latest attempt to enhance the performance of agricultural markets. Conceived as a meeting point for buyers and sellers of grains (sesame, haricot beans, maize, wheat) and coffee, the ECX seeks to organise efficient and transparent market operations. The study attempts to examine whether the creation of the ECX, and particularly the Government’s decision to make coffee trade through this mechanism mandatory for private traders, has resulted in significant modifications in the way Ethiopian actors in the coffee value chain interact and in their specific functions. A global value chain approach reveals the inner workings of chain and non-chain actor coordination, with its implications both at the domestic and international level. A new economic sociology approach takes the analysis beyond the logistical bottlenecks to reveal the motivations and interests of particular chain actors and their influence in allowing for change or maintaining the status quo.