Colombia faces coffee crisis

High in the lush green mountains of western Colombia where they grow the soft beans from which the world's finest coffee is cultivated, growers are up in arms over the giveaway prices being fixed a world away on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Producers there say they are selling at a loss, blaming the crash devastating their industry on stock market speculators who have forced prices down to an all-time low, AFP reports.