“Think of coffee and you will probably think of Brazil, Colombia, or maybe Ethiopia. But the world’s second largest exporter today is Vietnam. How did its market share jump from 0.1% to 20% in just 30 years, and how has this rapid change affected the country?”

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

Vietnam is a historically tea-drinking country, and when the French colonized, they brought coffee.  Culturally they still prefer tea, but in the 1980s, the government say this as a major export crop that they were climatically primed to produce.  This rapid growth has bolstered the economy, but has had some adverse environmental impacts as well.  The article is rich in geographic topics to bring into the classroom.

Tags: Vietnam, agriculture, globalization, SouthEastAsia.

See on www.bbc.co.uk