{"id":5171,"date":"2009-07-22T14:00:23","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T18:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/?p=5171"},"modified":"2009-07-22T14:23:53","modified_gmt":"2009-07-22T18:23:53","slug":"the-market-maker-production-diary-iii-open-sesame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/interactives-extras\/filmmaker-notes-interactives-extras\/the-market-maker-production-diary-iii-open-sesame\/5171\/","title":{"rendered":"Production Diary III: Open Sesame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humera, Ethiopia
\nJune 1, 2009
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Producer Eli Cane<\/em> writes from the field.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sitting on the roof of my hotel at sunset in Humera, sweating. The temperature is dropping, but it\u2019s still up around 115 degrees. It peaked earlier today at around 125, when we were in the middle of a parched sesame field getting shots of gojo bets <\/em>(traditional family huts) and watching the heat shimmer its way up from the cracked black earth.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Wicker<\/p>\n

Wicker cots on the roof in Humera<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

By nightfall, the temperature should dip to a refreshing 90 degrees \u2014 with a breeze, thankfully \u2014 and we\u2019ll line up our wicker cots side-by-side on the roof to sleep. We\u2019ll share this makeshift open-air bedroom with Ben Aschenaki, head of business development for the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange.<\/p>\n

Humera is in the northwest corner of Ethiopia, on the border with Sudan and Eritrea. The borders are closed here, but you can still feel a certain tension in the air. Ethiopia and Eritrea have fought two wars in the past century, and Ethiopia and Sudan had their own border dispute in 2003. The most popular accessory around here is a Kalashnikov. We\u2019ve come to catch up with Ben and his team, some of whom have been here for a few weeks meeting with farmers, agricultural societies, cooperative unions, and commercial farmers, and trying to convince them to deposit their sesame into the recently opened ECX warehouse.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Aschenaki meeting with traders in Humera, Ethiopia’s sesame capital<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Sesame is Ethiopia\u2019s rising export star \u2014 production has grown by more than 200 percent in export value in the last few years, and Ethiopia now sends vast quantities to India, China and the Middle East. In part because coffee exports are down, some are saying that sesame will surpass coffee as Ethiopia’s biggest export commodity in 2009. Despite its inhospitable climate, Humera produces some of the finest sesame in the world.<\/p>\n

We arrived yesterday, just in time to see a small farmer chugging his way into the ECX warehouse on an old rusty tractor to make the first deposit. Ben and his team were elated; until now, they\u2019d met with fierce resistance and mistrust, as the sesame community was understandably skeptical of a major new player moving into their market. The first deposit is monitored by local observers who closely watch the ECX\u2019s modern grading and receipt systems. Ben tells us that this is a major breakthrough for the ECX and sesame farmers. If the team back in Addis can arrange to launch sesame trading by the end of the week, these farmers will have money in their bank accounts by next week. This is just a small start, but a symbol of bigger things to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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It peaked earlier today at around 125, when we were in the middle of a parched sesame field getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4392],"tags":[2749,5437,245],"class_list":["post-5171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-filmmaker-notes-interactives-extras","tag-eritrea","tag-ethiopia","tag-sudan"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Market Maker ~ Production Diary III: Open Sesame | Wide Angle | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/interactives-extras\/filmmaker-notes-interactives-extras\/the-market-maker-production-diary-iii-open-sesame\/5171\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Market Maker ~ Production Diary III: Open Sesame | Wide Angle | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Humera, Ethiopia June 1, 2009 Producer Eli Cane writes from the field. 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