A Fair Exchange?

Four years ago, sitting around a campfire in a remote village, a promise was made to bring fresh water to a village in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The village is home to 10,000 people, most of whom are dependent on growing coffee for a living.

'A Fair Exchange?' tells the story of a group of Irish businesspeople who organised the project to bring clean water to the village of Illili Darartu.

Four years later, programme maker Tim Desmond travelled with David McKernan, the man who made that promise, to see the progress of the project.

The low price of coffee has led to many farmers switching instead to growing a narcotic plant called khat which has led to widespread social problems in Ethiopia.

The programme examines the relationship between the coffee growers of this remote region of Ethiopia and the buyers of their products, and asks are aid projects like this the best way to improve the lives of Ethiopian coffee growers?

Produced by Tim Desmond.

Production supervision by Liam O'Brien.

Sound supervision by Mark McGrath.

First broadcast on 12th June 2010.

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.