The third World Coffee Producers Forum (WCPF) took place virtually on 12 July to discuss the intersection between coffee farmers’ prosperity and National Coffee Sustainability Plans.
The International Coffee Organization (ICO) says the Forum welcomed international experts and high-level representatives from different coffee-producing countries and coffee associations. Attendees considered how to proactively address the challenges faced by the coffee value chain worldwide while improving the livelihoods of smallholder coffee growers.
“Beyond the increase of wages and incomes, the real challenge is to achieve the growers’ and their communities’ prosperity and create sustainable living conditions for future generations of farmers,” says Juan Esteban Orduz, Chair of the WCPF.
The forum focused on the importance of aligning producing regions with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through strategic plans for supporting producers and promoting sustainable coffee production.
“To meet the SDGs and address the challenges of the coffee sector, we need an effective public-private partnerships framework. The ICO Coffee Public-Private Task Force is a unique opportunity to enhance dialogue and build consensus between all actors, with a view to achieving coordinated action for a sustainable and prosperous coffee sector at local and global levels,” says Vanúsia Nogueira, Executive Director of the ICO.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs from the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network explained how each coffee-producing country should develop an SDG-framed National Coffee Sustainability Plan that accounts for the different needs, challenges and opportunities within that country’s coffee sector.
“Around the coffee growing itself, I count six SDG-based complementary investments that are essential: school and education; investment in healthcare; electrification based on energy decarbonisation; sustainable use of land and biodiversity; sustainable infrastructures; and digital access and services,” says Sachs.
The WCPF concluded on the need to intrinsically link social and environmental sustainability to overcome the multiple issues that could increasingly disrupt the coffee value chain at the local and global levels.
The next WCPF Forum will take place in person from 13 to 14 February 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda.
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