LONDON – The International Coffee Organization (ICO) today published the proceedings [CF-10/13] of the 3rd Consultative Forum on Coffee Sector Finance as part of its semi-annual meetings. The Forum took place in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on 10 September 2013 during the 50th anniversary meetings of the ICO.
The topic selected for consideration was aggregation and the objective was to identify best practices and disseminate information about farmer aggregation as a platform through which access to finance and risk management can be achieved more effectively.
The Forum was facilitated by Mr Robert Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of the National Coffee Association of USA (NCA) and received sponsorship from the All Japan Coffee Association (AJCA) and the World Bank.
3rd Consultative Forum on Coffee Sector Finance
The Forum used an innovative methodology which involved 22 experts working with small groups to consider seven case studies on different aspects of aggregation, as well as a brainstorming session which identified almost 200 driving and restraining forces which could impact on farmer aggregation.
The priority driving forces included creating economic incentives for organizing farmers such as identifying a common buyer, examples of successful cooperatives and enhancing the administrative capacity of farmer organizations to improve their capabilities.
Restraining forces included the lack of female participation, lack of education about cooperatives, poor legal frameworks and corruption, and risk aversion and risk management.
Participants noted that if programmes could be developed to strengthen the driving forces and weaken the restraining forces, this could facilitate the development of farmer organizations
Presentations were made by three experts on the state of farmer aggregation and the basic principles of cooperative development:
- Alex Serrano, Vice President, Program and Business Development, National Cooperative Business Association, CLUSA International
- Dan Zook, Citi/Skoll project leader, Dalberg, Global Development Advisors
- Lakshmi Venkatachalam, Vice President, Private Sector and Cofinancing Operations, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
The proceedings of the Forum will be reviewed by the International Coffee Council during its 112th Session from 3 to 7 March 2014.
Presentations made at the Forum are available to download from: http://www.ico.org/forum3-e.asp?section=Meetings.
