—ANNOUNCEMENT— IACO 2017 ANNUAL MEETINGS Abidjam, Côte d’Ivoire, 4th - 9th December 2017 Theme of the 5th Symposium: << Sustainable Coffee Development for the Emergence of the African Economy >> 4th-5th December 2017 5th African Coffee Symposium ACRN Coordination Committee Meeting 6th December 2017 IACO Technical Committees Meetings IACO Board of Directors Meeting 7th December 2017 African Coffee Policy Forum IACO Annual General Assembly 8th December 2017 Field Visits to African Coffee Projects in Abidjan NB:The exhibition opens on 4th December and closes on 9th December 2017 His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire |TABLE OF CONTENTS P-7 A WORD BY THE CHAIRMAN - Souleymane Diarrassouba Chairman of IACO P-9 EDITORIAL - The Time Has Come for Action P-11 KEY HIGHLIGHTS - World Coffee Producers’ Forum: Final Declaration P-14 ECONOMIC AFFAIRS - Challenges in Coffee Value Chain P-16 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT - Brief Description of TaCRI to IACO P-18 GOOD TO KNOW - An Overview of Côte d’Ivoire - Grand-Bassam: Universal Value Periodical of the Inter-African Coffee Organization - IACO Editor-In-Chief: Frederick S.M. KAWUMA, IACO Secretary General Copy Editor: Dominic K. Kamanan Associate Editor: Auguste J.M. AOUTI Address: IACO General Secretariat, Caistab Building 3rd Floor, P.O.BOX V 210 Abidjan - Cote d’Ivoire Tel: +(225) 20 21 61 31 / +(225) 20 21 61 85 Fax: +(225) 20 21 62 12 E-mail: [email protected] | 5 | A WORD BY THE CHAIRMAN| “We hope that the meeting in Abidjan will be a real success in ensuring the effective imple- mentation of previous recom- mendations and those that will be made in the course of this week, for a profitable and sustainable coffee industry in Africa.“ Souleymane DIARRASSOUBA Chairman of IACO Distinguished guests, 1980s. Africa, with the largest number of coffee produ- Dear delegates from IACO Member States, cing countries in the world, produced an average of 1.3 million tons per year during this period. It ranked On behalf of the President of the Republic of Côte second after South America among the major produ- d’Ivoire, His Excellency Mister Alassane OUATTARA, cing regions. I extend to you a warm welcome and a very good stay in Côte d’Ivoire, on the Inter-African Coffee This development dynamic was grossly disrupted after Organization (IACO) 2017 Annual Meetings, under the decade of 1980-1990. Since then, African coffee the theme: «Sustainable Coffee Development for the production recorded a continuous decline. Today, it Emergence of the African Economy». produces about 900,000 tons with a corresponding decrease in export earnings that are less than 10% These Annual Meetings, in addition to Representatives of total export earnings from all producing countries of Governments, bring together producers, traders and in the world, compared with 21% in 1990. This coun- roasters, and all the stakeholders in the African coffee ter-performance was induced by the withdrawal of value chain. Your massive and qualitative presence at the Government from the technical supervision of pro- this session not only shows the unity that prevails within ducers and by the reduction of budgets allocated to the Organization, but also the importance you attach research and development activities. to the development of African coffee and the coffee industry generally. Concurrently with this, global coffee consumption is increasing. Estimates are expected to reach 10.6 The African coffee industry is a very important sec- million tons in 2020 against the 2015 global produc- tor in the economies of African producing countries. tion of about 8.6 million tons. Thus, the African coffee Indeed, our continent has 25 producing countries with industry, with its potential, should put its together and a population of 716 million inhabitants, and for some take advantage of this opportunity to fill the expected of these countries, coffee is a major agricultural pro- shortfall. duct because of export earnings, as well as the reve- nues it provides to small producers. It should be noted Yet, it should be recognized that there are many challen- that this sector experienced an upturn until the late ges. These include: INTER-AFRICAN COFFEE ORGANIZATION | 7 || 5 | |A WORD BY THE CHAIRMAN - Low farm-levelproductivity; In addition, IACO should take into account the rele- - fluctuations in prices on international market, vant question of partnerships with the private sector resulting in the decline of coffee production and in pursuit of the following: to finance new agricultu- its tragic impact on small producers, women ral infrastructure and research initiatives; support the and children and its consequences on the eco- creation of a regional supply chain of sustainable nomies of African producing States; coffee; promote investment in value-added activities; - decline in coffee production in our region promote the adoption of climate change mitigation (although it accounts for almost 50% of the wor- initiatives, and adapt to environmental good practice; ld’s arable land, and is the origin of Arabica and and, disseminate information that will guide the sector Robusta coffees, Africa exports only 11% of glo- to achieve a sustainable coffee industry in Africa. bal coffee exports -- well below 23% in the 1980s), while the other producing regions of the world Effective implementation by member countries of the (Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean) have above measures, by common and effective actions, increased theirs; will undoubtedly contribute to raise the level and per- - aging and diseases of coffee orchards; formance of the African coffee industry. - problem of limited coffee processing for final Therefore, we hope that the meeting in Abidjan will be consumption; a real success in ensuring the effective implementa- - Replacement of most of coffee farms with other tion of previous recommendations and those that will perennial crops, unavailability of labor nega- be made in the course of this week, for a profitable and tively influencing investments in coffee farms; sustainable coffee industry in Africa n - limited funding for research; Souleymane DIARRASSOUBA - Limited domestic consumption; Minister for Commerce, Craft and Faced with these and other challenges, with a mission Promotion of SMEs of Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to guarantee an environment that promotes market Chairman of IACO access and remunerative prices, among others, aimed at improving the living conditions of small-scale far- mers who produce most of our coffee, IACO works in a framework of perspectives of which some are pre- sented as follows: • encourage the structuring of small farmers into agricultural professional organizations (OPA) for efficient and cost-effective group work; • encourage the creation of good working condi- tions in rural areas and a good standard of living for producers, as an effective means of comba- ting rural exodus and extreme poverty; • support to coffee producers by developing new sources of income and year-round employment for youth and women; • encourage women and youth integration in cof- fee industry in Africa; • encourage capacity-building for coffee produ- cers to adopt better agricultural, entrepreneurial and environmental practices; • establish a Special Fund for Coffee with the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of a partnership aimed at boosting coffee producti- vity, production and quality in Africa. | 8 | EDITORIAL| THE TIME HAS COME FOR ACTION Within three years’ time, IACO will celebrate its 60th anni- versary. Therefore, there is a need to pause and look back to see what the Organization has done for the Member States and mainly, for the farmers. The study has already highlighted the areas that require close attention and, that include critical services that should be provided to the Member States in view of declining production, aging coffee population and, the need for transformation of the coffee value chain. All the iden- tified concerns expressed would be addressed once the resources are available. A key aspect of IACO’s strategic plan is resource mobilization and partnership development. To achieve this objective, one the preoc- cupations of the General Secretariat, is to address the issue of sustainability of the organization as well as that of the African coffee industry. A solution to this challenge could be the Africa Coffee Facility launched last year through a workshop that gathered many cof- fee sector stakeholders. The construction of the new IACO Headquarters, which will also serve as an endow- ment to the organization, is an instrument that will play Frederick KAWUMA a critical role in enhancing the sustainability of the organization. Secretary General of IACO The 5th edition of the African Coffee Symposium will On the occasion of the 57th Annual Meetings of the deal with “Sustainable Coffee Development for the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) scheduled to Emergence of the African Economy”. The venue this be held this year in Abidjan, Republic of côte d’Ivoire, year, Grand Bassam (Côte d’Ivoire) comes after the it is the pleasure of the General Secretariat to warmly ones held in Lomé (Togo) in 2013, Kampala (Uganda) welcome all our esteemed delegates and guests. As in 2014, Luanda (Angola) in 2015 and Yaoundé expressed in the common lingua, we say AKWABA to (Cameroon) in 2016. The purpose of these sympo- all of you. sia, in addition to the usual African Coffee Research Network (ACRN) meetings, and IACO’s Annual General I will also take the opportunity to express the Assembly, is to bring key private sector players both Organization’s gratitude to the African Development local and international including coffee experts, coffee Bank (AfDB) for financing a study to revitalize the advocates and policy makers, to discuss the impact African Coffee Industry. This study has been under- of the global trends on African coffee, and the impact taken at a critical time for IACO, and more impor- of these on livelihoods of women and children in sub- tantly examines the challenges as well as prospects Sahara Africa to share their experiences with the par- of the organization, as well as African coffee industry ticipants.