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Delegates at the G7 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Pescara, Italy | Photo credit: ICO handout
The International Coffee Organization has hailed ‘a new era for the coffee industry’ after the G7 endorsed the Global Coffee Sustainability and Resilience Fund – a collaboration between the ICO, Italian G7 Presidency, and industry stakeholders designed to support smallholder farmers, women, and youth, particularly across Africa and vulnerable regions. Aiming to drive sustainable growth across the coffee value chain, the fund will seek to stimulate private investment through the efficient use of public capital tailored to the different investment needs of coffee producing countries. The move comes after the G7 acknowledged coffee as a strategic value chain in April 2024, which the ICO described as ‘unprecedented.’ Participating in the G7 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Pescara, Italy, 22-24 October 2024 for the first time in its history, the ICO led a session dedicated to the value coffee chain attended by leaders from the G7 and partner countries, the European Union, the African Union, strategic, financial organisations and private sector representatives. “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,” said Dr Vanúsia Nogueira Executive Director of the ICO.In press release, The ICO said has been working closely with the Italian government – providing critical insights into the coffee value chain and co-organising 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.’
