Projects by area of action
- Combat pests and diseases
- Diversification
- Emergency assistance
- Marketing structure improvement
- Quality enhancement
- Sustainable coffee economy
COMBAT PESTS AND DISEASES
Action against pests and diseases is important not only to protect the economy of coffee producing countries and the livelihood of farming populations but to protect productivity and quality of coffee. Particular care is dedicated to ensure that protection programmes are as environmentally friendly as possible.
- Integrated management of the Coffee Berry Borer
- Integrated white stem borer management in smallholder coffee farms in India, Malawi and Zimbabwe
- Improvement of coffee production in Africa by the control of coffee wilt disease - tracheomycosis
- Increasing the resilience of coffee production to Leaf Rust and other diseases in India and
four African countries
DIVERSIFICATION
The Organization encourages its Members to support programmes for vertical and horizontal diversification as a way in which a vicious circle of dependence on primary products can be broken and transformed into a virtuous circle of constructive change and development and so lessen the impact of the commodity crisis on exporting countries.
Diversification and industrialization require different categories of measures appropriate to different causes of dependence. For countries exporting agricultural primary products, diversification means identifying product and market growth areas and the adoption by governments and the business community of suitable policies and measures to penetrate these markets.
Financing diversification is quite complicated in most commodity-dependent countries. However, measures to promote foreign investment and the efficient use of financial aid can play an important role.
- Diversification of production in marginal areas in the state of
- Reconversion of small coffee farms into self-sustainable agricultural family units
- Developing the potential of Gourmet Robusta coffee in Gabon and Togo
- Enhancing the potential of gourmet coffee production in Central American countries
- Access to finance for the development of diversification crops in coffee producing areas
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
In cases where producing countries have suffered large decrease in production for reason of “force majeure”, it may be appropriate to encourage programmes to secure a recovery in productive capacity, providing increases are not of a scale to e exert an adverse effect on the supply-demand balance.
This process assists in ensuring that characteristic coffees remain available to the market, and in safeguarding the exploitation of comparative advantage.
As part of such strategy, emphasis is given to promoting studies/technical assistance on coffee development in countries that have suffered from major natural disasters and/or war disruption, as an important source of employment and income.
In countries under reconstruction, in order to alleviate poverty and help families with resettlement, the Organization promotes rehabilitation of coffee plantations and marketing systems.
- Pilot rehabilitation of the coffee sectors in Honduras and Nicaragua
- Pilot rehabilitation of neglected coffee plantations into small family production units in Angola
- Regional workshop on the coffee crisis in Central America
- Qualitative and quantitative rehabilitation of coffee with the aim of improving living conditions of coffee farmers afflicted and displaced by war in the Democratic Republic of Congo
MARKETING STRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT
With the transition in many exporting countries to liberalized marketing systems care is needed to ensure that the benefits of increased market flexibility are not jeopardized by the elimination of necessary functions previously undertaken by marketing boards and similar regulatory bodies.
Besides this the coffee sector in many exporting countries consists of large number of smallholder farmers who need assistance to develop their capacity to compete in the market, get access to commercial credit, cope with price volatility through risk management and generate benefits to their communities. In certain importing markets the Organization may also be able to assist, through training and educational programmes, in improving expertise and trading methods and in facilitating contacts with suppliers in exporting Member countries.
In the interests of a healthy and competitive trading economy it is important that traders in producing countries have the necessary degree of commercial expertise, access to credit and appropriate legal framework to function effectively. The Organization also seeks to evaluate and if appropriate propose new instruments of international cooperation designed to further the aims identified in the Agreement.
- Study on coffee marketing systems and trading policies in selected coffee-producing countries
- Coffee market development & trade promotion in Eastern and Southern Africa
- Strengthening the commercial, management, financial and business cap of small coffee
growers/exporters in Mexico and Nicaragua - Coffee price risk management in Eastern and Southern Africa
- Study of the potential for commodity exchanges and other forms of market places
in the coffee sectors of COMESA countries - Pilot short and medium term finance for small-scale coffee farmers in Kenya
- Workshop on structured short and medium term finance to small-scale farmers in Africa
- Coffee price risk management in East Africa
- Enhancing competitiveness of the African coffee through a value chain analysis
- Competitive coffee enterprises programme for Guatemala and Jamaica
QUALITY ENHANCEMENT
The maintenance and improvement of coffee quality are crucial to sustain consumption in the long term, add value to the product and protect it against contamination. This has been done through projects dedicated to improve cultivation, processing, storage, transportation and marketing practices.
- Development of gourmet coffee potential
- Enhancement of quality in coffee by prevention of mould formation
- Improving coffee quality in East and Central Africa through enhanced primary processing practices
- Robusta quality and marketing improvement by optimal use of coffee terroirs
- Coffee processing study - Rwanda
- Characteristics of the demand for Robusta coffee in Europe
- Workshop on coffee quality through prevention of mould formation in Ecuador
- Sustainable credit guarantee scheme to promote scaling up of enhanced processing practices in Ethiopia and Rwanda
- Building capacity in coffee certification and verification for specialty coffee farmers in EAFCA countries
SUSTAINABLE COFFEE ECONOMY
It is vital that coffee production and processing should take into account environmental needs to ensure physical sustainability. It is also necessary that the economic environment should be such as to encourage stability and reasonable living standards for the populations involved with coffee, and to ensure that adequate care may be given to ensure the maintenance of quality. The Organization wishes to encourage the improvement and diversification of old coffee plantations towards more market-oriented and environmental plantations such as organic and gourmet coffee. It also seeks to promote the use of friendly environmental technologies through the production and processing chain, integrated biological pest control and improved technology for the washing process.
- Sustainable coffee development in Eastern Africa
- Worldwide comparative analysis of coffee growing areas
- Economic crises and commodity dependent LDCs: mapping the exposure to market volatility and building resilience to future crises
