PESCARA, Italy ‒ The International Coffee Organization (ICO) participated for the first time in its history in the G7 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Pescara, Italy, on 22-24 October 2024, where coffee once again took centre stage. Following the unprecedented acknowledgement of coffee as a strategic value chain by the G7 at the Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting in Torino (April 2024) and in the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué, the Organization celebrates the G7’s endorsement of a new private-public funding initiative to drive sustainable and resilient growth across the coffee global value chain (C-GVC).
The Global Coffee Sustainability and Resilience Fund aims to leverage innovative blended finance solutions to catalyse private investments through the efficient use of public capital.
Recognizing that each coffee-producing country has different starting points and investment needs, the initiative will design tailor-made solutions.
At Pescara’s Aurum centre, Mr Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, chaired a working session dedicated to the coffee value chain, which involved leaders from the G7 and partner countries, the European Union, the African Union, strategic international organizations and financial institutions, as well as representatives from the private sector.
During the session, the Executive Director of the ICO, Dr VanĂşsia Nogueira, delivered a keynote speech highlighting the vital role of coffee in social and economic development.
The milestone reached at the G7 meeting in Pescara marks the start of a new phase of opportunities for the coffee sector, made possible through the successful collaboration between the International Coffee Organization, the Italian G7 Presidency, and industry leaders.
The ICO has been working closely with the Italian government – providing critical insights into the coffee value chain and co-organizing consultations with key private sector representatives – and is now ready to continue engaging with governments and strategic stakeholders in this collaborative effort as the initiative moves forward towards its implementing stage.
The establishment of the Global Coffee Sustainability and Resilience Fund represents a significant step towards encouraging innovative approaches that attract greater investment, focusing on the most vulnerable countries and communities and especially on the African continent, smallholder farmers, women, and youth, while also securing the resilience of the global coffee industry.
During her intervention at the G7, the ICO ’s Executive Director noted:
“Governments and industry are already funding several projects on coffee sustainability, however, with the G7 Initiative, we aim to identify better solutions, coordinate actions more effectively, and scale up best practices. A global public-private coffee fund will help us respond to the need for investments in research, knowledge, technology, and infrastructure to improve productivity, quality, and sustainability, generating higher value addition at the origin.
As a knowledge partner, the ICO is proud to have contributed to championing this initiative, which aims to drive innovative solutions addressing climate change, deforestation, and equitable value distribution within the coffee global value chain”.
The G7 Development Ministers’ Meeting also provided a valuable opportunity for the International Coffee Organization to hold bilateral consultations with key partners sharing a common agenda for the coffee sector.
These included the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), as well as G7 and partner countries.
In a productive meeting with the Canadian delegation, Dr VanĂşsia Nogueira and the ICO’s Head of Operations, Mr Gerardo Patacconi, discussed strategies to sustain momentum for coffee and the funding initiative, ensuring continued progress under Canada’s G7 Presidency in 2025.
The ICO reiterates its commitment to collaborating closely with all parties involved in the Global Coffee Sustainability and Resilience Fund and to keeping Members informed of any strategic developments benefitting producing countries and coffee stakeholders around the world.
