The nonprofit international development organization TechnoServe has announced the appointment of Paul Stewart to the new position of global coffee director.
Currently a regional coffee director for the U.S.-based nonprofit, Stewart will now oversee TechnoServe’s global portfolio of projects that aim to improve livelihoods for smallholder coffee farmers worldwide.
Over the course of a 14-year career at TechnoServe, Stewart has helped build its coffee practice into a recognized leader in “shared value” solutions that reduce poverty for farmers while developing sustainable supply chains for coffee businesses.
A noted industry expert, Stewart has contributed to numerous coffee best practices: creating a low-cost wet mill business plan that has been replicated across East Africa and beyond; pioneering a new model for coffee exporters to provide credit and marketing services to wet mills; and leading TechnoServe’s East Africa coffee portfolio to more than $7 million worth of projects benefiting over a quarter million smallholder coffee farmers across five countries.
“The coffee sector’s potential to improve incomes for millions of smallholder farmers makes it a critical piece of TechnoServe’s mission to create business solutions to poverty,” said TechnoServe President and CEO William Warshauer.
“We are fortunate to have someone with Paul’s deep industry knowledge and experience to carry this work forward into the future.”
Stewart will officially assume his new position on September 15.
