Falling coffee prices hit farmers A sharp fall of coffee prices has caused many difficulties for local growers and if the situation does not improve, many of the farmers may turn to planting other crops instead. According to the Vietnamese Coffee Exporters’ Club, Vietnam's coffee export price has fallen to USD1,800 a tonne compared to its peak of USD2,100 - 2,200 USD.  If coffee prices continue falling, farmers may turn to planting other crops instead. The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (VICOFA) said that Vietnam's coffee exports for 2014-15 were estimated at around 1.25 million tonnes at USD2.62 billion, down 21.9% in volume and 20.1% in value compared to the last harvest. Nguyen Hai Nam, Deputy Head of VICOFA said that coffee prices in the domestic market saw consecutive falls to VND35.4 million per tonne in September from VND36 million in July and VND38 million in March. The problem was attributed to exchange rate changes in the global market as well as unfavourable weather conditions such as droughts caused by El Nino which seriously affected coffee productivity. Meanwhile, famers have also spent more on production costs. Luong Van Tu, Chairman of VICOFA said that if the situation did not improve, famers may stop growing coffee to turn into other crops like pepper and macadamia nuts. Vietnam is now home to around 600,000ha of coffee. To maintain coffee production in the coming time, the coffee sector will have to boost domestic consumption and co-operation between growers and enterprises as well as attract more investment. Experts suggested there should be support policies for farmers as they have had to suffer losses over several years due to the decline in both coffee output and prices. By Nguyen An, dtinews.vn