An article in the New York Times (April 8,2012) describes the efforts by Good African Coffee – a company that roasts coffee grown in Uganda, and brands the coffee rather than sell commodity coffee beans. Going up the value chain of coffee requires higher yields, better growing techniques, roasting equipment, cupping to separate tastes etc. But it also improves the food eaten, houses lived in, opportunities for education etc for farmers, and replaces aid with trade as the driver for change. Should Good African Coffee’s supply chain be described as being sustainable ? Should efforts such as this be included in a definition of sustainability – beyond purely environmental metrics ? Given that trade can leverage the impact of aid, should aid be used to subsidize the capital equipment required to move up the value chain ?