HOW ETHIOPIA IS IMITATING CHICAGO.

HOW ETHIOPIA IS IMITATING CHICAGO. Roger Thurow had an article in the Wall Street Journal for February 27 about the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, which was scheduled to open in Addis Ababa in March. The new exchange is patterned after the Chicago Board of Trade. Small farmers with a few acres produce 95 % of Ethiopia’s crops. They usually sell to the first merchant that comes along, leading to very low prices at harvest time. The article said that in the early 1800’s, before the Chicago Board of Trade came into existence, most grain was sold shortly after harvest, which resulted in very low prices. It is intended in Ethiopia that there will be a network of new warehouses so that farmers can store grain and trade the warehouse receipt on the Exchange when they find an attractive price. The article speaks of hopes that the Exchange can connect farmer to world grain markets, but I would think it would be a success if the grain is stored and moved to food-short areas in Ethiopia or elsewhere in Africa.