“Should I kill myself or have a cup of coffee?" said Albert Camus, the late French philosopher and writer, when asked about the beverage. Indeed, there might be no more apt words for the present value of coffee than "the little bean that changed the world."

Coffee, a trophy of the capitalist, is the third most consumed beverage in the world. Ethiopia stands fifth in suppling the world with the most widely used psychoactive drug globally.

Not surprisingly, this translates to great importance for the country that supports 5.6 million farmers in the production of coffee, the genesis of the country's foreign exchange and which covers more than 650,000ha of cultivated land.

Ethiopia, despite being the fifth largest producer and exporter in the world, is a price taker in the international market with a coffee production of 384,000tn, 575pc less than the largest producer and exporter, Brazil.

With more than 400 coffee exporters and 30 import-export companies, the last fiscal year of the country saw a gush with 270,835tn of coffee sold and 854.2 million dollars generated. This represents a 17pc boost in volume and 12pc increase in value from the last fiscal year.

Despite a good performance this year, there are a lot of exporters that seek coffee at a very low price in the international market, according to Hariu Nuru, market information and regulatory director at the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority.

“This is especially witnessed by exporters involved in importing goods from abroad,” he said.

This has led the Authority to issue a directive to combat the everlasting problem of the country's foreign exchange crunch. The directive, named the Minimum Price Coffee Contract System, has been dictating a minimum export price for coffee, which is determined daily depending on the global weighted average prices given to different grades of coffee from different regions, since February 28, 2020.

Since the System was implemented, exporters have had to report the volume and quality of deals and do so within four hours of confirming negotiations. After the contract is cemented, the exporter must deposit the value of the merchandise at the National Bank of Ethiopia. The coffee is then expected to be shipped out within 90 days.

The enacted directive of coffee exports in March saw a surge both in value and volume, 20.6 million dollars and 6,210tn, in absolute figures, respectively.

Some industry players, however, have attributed this increase to sales before the directive was issued.

“The directive was issued after 90pc of the contracts were registered and the impact of the directive will only be seen in the next few months,” said a general manager of one of the top coffee exporters in the country. “We anticipate a negative impact on the sale of commercial coffee.”

However, for the last three months, coffee exports have been seeing a declining trend, especially in value. May and June have registered a contracted export value decline of nine percent and 15pc, respectively.

This is despite the fact that April to July are the arrival months for coffee harvested between October and February. In the case of April, the export of coffee has shown a slowdown of 15pc in value and 6.2pc in volume as compared to the previous month.

The decline for the month of April is due to delays in the shipment of the coffee for 15 days due to Chinese workers catching the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) at Ethio-Dijbouti Railways, according to Hairu.

“In addition, the price of coffee in the international market has been declining, and this has led buyers to hesitate to buy Ethiopian coffee,” he said.

Buyers, however, say otherwise.

“We want to buy the coffee, but the price is too erratic,” said a country representative for an international coffee trading company. “We're worried.”

Exporters also have mixed feelings about the impact of the directive on the market, in spite of its intentions.

“It has been challenging at first to navigate through the new directive, said a source from one of the top coffee exporters in the country. “There is no doubt it has increased the foreign exchange in the country.”

Mullege plc has stopped the export of commercial coffee for the last three months due to the newly issued directive as well, partly because the New York Tea Market, which sets a benchmark price for coffee contracts, has seen its prices decline.

Specialty coffee, which is the highest grade of coffee available, is weighted more for its quality than the price. However, specialty coffee represents only 20pc of the coffee market in the country. The fifth largest coffee exporter, Mullege has also steered its full direction toward this type as well.