LONDON, UK – In recent weeks, the International Coffee Organization (ICO ) secretariat has been working hard to secure key meetings with and between leading United Nations Agencies, ICO members and the Coffee Public-Private Task Force. These meetings aimed to enable ICO Members and members of the CPPTF to gain and share access to technology, resources and capitalize on the opportunities offered by the Task Force.
Some highlights of the meetings include: (a) Securing a partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its Green Commodity Programme.
The objectives are to strengthen the CPPTF and facilitate the Technical Workstream on Coffee Policy, Institutions and global funding mechanisms, and in particular, develop country/sub-regional project proposals/national sustainability plans contributing to the implementation of the CPPTF Road Map. (b) A partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) to build on a successful project promoting pyrolysis/biochar applied to coffee waste in Vietnam (https://youtu.be/UQnLd_TGUpk) to generate additional income opportunities for farmers while reducing climate change.
The project is supported by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented with the Sofies Group and the technology is manufactured in Vietnam.
A goal of this project is to further develop and replicate the use of the technology for other countries, such as countries in Africa and Central America.
This project will be scaled in partnership with donors and interested private sector members of the CPPTF members such as the Neumann Foundation. (c) The initiative ‘Coffee’s Next Generation’ was launched on International Coffee Day 2020 and is the core theme for the ICO in 2021.
The ICO is building on cooperation with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to feature coffee in the forthcoming 2021 Food System Summit, as an opportunity for youth employment, innovation and sustainability. This is expected also to be linked to the forthcoming G-7 Summit.
