Hugh Jackman, among his many other philanthropic efforts, has become an advocate for fair-trade coffee.
Jackman recently traveled to Ethiopia to learn about the struggles of Ethiopian coffee farmers. Inspired by what he saw, he has created a documentary entitled Dukale’s Dream to shed light on this issue. The film discusses the importance of fair-trade coffee farming as he follows the story of a local coffee farmer named Dukale.
With this newfound insight, Jackman is on a mission to help end the cycle of poverty that stems from an unfair coffee market. As he mentions in the trailer, there is a big problem with coffee buyers coming into developing countries and offering prices that are way below market value.
Unfortunately, the growers can’t afford to go anywhere else and have no choice but to pay these unfair prices. This has a hugely negative impact on their livelihoods, including their ability to send their children to school.
"It's not the way things were meant to be and it's not the way things have to be," Jackman says in the trailer.
The documentary will be released in early June! In the mean time, check out this article about the price local coffee farmers around the world have to pay when we don’t support fair-trade.