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Article: Vietnamese coffee and the plight of the montagnards.
- Article from:
- Tea & Coffee Trade Journal
- Article date:
- June 20, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana
"La plus ca change, la plus c'est la meme chose [The more things change, the more they stay the same]."
- French proverb
Everyone knows that Vietnam's phenomenal growth in coffee production has had a major impact on world markets. What is not so well known is that the coffee grown in the Vietnamese Central Highlands carries with it a huge toll in human lives and environmental degradation. It all comes down to land. The indigenous Montagnards, whose ancestors farmed the fertile highlands for centuries; have been reduced to starving on inadequate plots ...