The World Coffee Producers Forum (WCPF), which held its first event in Medellin in July 2017 has decided to take the huge success of that global gathering to the next level.
Having brought together presidents Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Bill Clinton of the U.S., all manner of coffee associations, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and, most importantly, growers large and tiny from every coffee cultivating country on earth, the forum gave growers a chance to voice concerns and demands. For small stakeholders, this was the first time they had a platform to speak to the world directly, and they used it–mainly to demand pricing equity, a bigger share of the global value chain in return for the sweat of their brow.
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It is no accident that the organizer of the first WCPF was the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC), a unique organization, fully-owned by that country’s participating coffee farmers, and which has led the way in developing the sector economically, technologically and socially through its many programs. It has, typically, decided to take the momentum created by the Forum and use it to extend, through partnerships with major actors in world finance, sustainable agronomy, and most of the world’s national coffee councils, the benefits from Colombian growers to growers worldwide.
Meeting with the International Coffee Council (ICO) in Mexico City in April, representatives of WCPF asked ICO to play a key role in implementing initiatives such as the promotion of consumption in producing countries and emerging markets and facilitating dialogue between growers and the rest of the actors in the coffee chain. They also discussed the crucial need for concrete actions to improve producers’ income through joint work with other actors in the chain; increasing coffee prices; reducing practices that contribute to climate change and the urgent need to increase productivity to meet growing demand. William Murray, c.e.o. of the National Coffee Association (USA) warned that “according to some estimates the world will have to double coffee production by 2050,” further stating, “the coffee value chain needs to secure that coffee production is sustainable to meet this future global demand”.
The good news on that front is, as Ric Rhinehardt, president of the Specialty Coffee Association, noted, “today’s consumers demand excellent quality as well as the assurance that their coffee is being produced sustainably.” Meaning that consumer awareness can and should be translated into higher retail prices through broad communications strategies.
As M. B. Bopanna of the India Coffee Trust, said of India’s 450 million-strong middle class, “If we expose them to the quality and benefits of coffee, we can increase consumption in our country significantly”.
As agreed during the initial WCP Forum, economist and Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, who is also special advisor to the UN Secretary General on the Sustainable Development Goals, was commissioned to conduct research into economic and policy analysis for improving smallholder coffee producers’ incomes. Prof. Sachs presented the initial structure of the study to ICO in Mexico. Preliminary results will be presented in September 2018 and conclusions in March 2019. The final report will be presented at the 2nd World Coffee Producers Forum in July 2019.
Ishak Lukenge, a board member of the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) said, “We are all co-responsible to make the coffee value-chain sustainable as a whole, but also each one of the links that constitute it”.
With the impending incorporation of WCPF as a global coffee growers’ non-profit, its reach and resources stand to make it a player on a par with commodities markets and retailers.