ABSTRACT
The importance of coffee for developing countries in particular is great since they are the exclusive producers and a large number of countries depend on coffee or on coffee and one other commodity such as cocoa, cotton and bananas for a large proportion of their export receipts. In most areas where agriculture is devoted largely to coffee both short-term and long-term elasticity of supply tend to be low. There are two main types of coffee cultivated: most common, and preferred by consumers owing to a milder flavour, is the arabica grown in a large number of countries; the robusta, in contrast, is grown in fewer countries, such as Brazil, Dahomey, Togo, Gabon and Congo. This was reflected in a virtual doubling in price of coffee between 1975 and 1976. Nevertheless, despite these notable changes in circumstances, an agreement was concluded which was based firmly on that of 1968 and continued to use the export quota as the main control mechanism.
