The Global Coffee Platform’s (GCP) Annual Report 2017 captures the sustainability journey of more than 150 members coming together from undefined
all parts of the coffee supply chain to improve the livelihoods of coffee farming communities around the world.
The Annual Report 2017 presents the most relevant results of the past year, while offering a deeper look at each National Coffee Platform’s achievements.
Last year, GCP built several promising partnerships with key stakeholders. One of them supported Kenyan farmers to improve their farm's economic viability. Another joint effort with Solidaridad, Rainforest Alliance and Utz has been fundamental to constitute the first foundations of the Honduran Platform by bringing together different interested parties and defining their roadmap for the upcoming years.
A similar initiative with the United Nations Development Program has engaged main coffee companies in Peru to release their first joint statistical report, setting a milestone in the country and building trust towards a future coffee platform. In Vietnam, the Government has adapted the National Sustainability Curriculum which will be rolled out to all coffee farmers in the country, made possible thanks to the trust deposited in the National Coffee Platform.
One of GDP's main highlights of the year was the development of the Coffee Sustainability Curriculum (CSC) App in Brazil, and its launch in October during the 2017 Global Coffee Sustainability Conference. The tool seeks to increase the efficiency of coffee crops, by measuring the sustainable practices aligned with the CSC. This app optimises time for monitoring progress and gathers vital information to improve production for next years. More than 70 technicians and 15 institutions have started training with the app. It is foreseen that in 2018, the amount of coffee hectares covered will increase exponentially.
National Coffee Platforms are determined to scale sustainable production practices among farmers with a considerable amount of training sessions held in coffee producing countries. In Vietnam, 100 master trainings were conducted. GCP's Indonesia Platform spread its National Sustainability Curriculum in five different regions with more than 64 master trainings registered. In Uganda, more than 200 Ugandan farmers and field staff were educated in the Coffee Specific Extension Program, and in Tanzania, 100 agronomists were trained in three different regions.
The Sustainable Trade Platform (Coffee Platform in Colombia), addressed two main challenges from analysis of five Colombian coffee regions: gender inequity and the need for research and development. Among many outcomes, the study found that gender equity strategies have greater impact when directed to the whole family, rather than just focusing on women. It also found a considerable need for more research in view of changing climatic conditions, including suitable coffee varieties and new technologies for profitable.
GCP also provided other learning and research opportunities by conducting a workshop in Climate Smart Agriculture for sustainability managers to sharpen their climate change strategies.
All previous activities along with many related projects were shared with more than 200 key stakeholders in the coffee sustainability sector during the GCSC 2017 in Geneva. The event brought together leaders in the industry to discuss new ideas and resources to translate individual efforts into global collaboration.
To read to the GCP Annual Report in full, click here annualreport2017.globalcoffeeplatform.org
