In Africa, coffee accounts for approximately 12% of the global production.
Image credit: Expressowork
The government of Italy is making €15 million available to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the promotion of sustainable coffee production in Africa.
Ohibaba.com reports that the funding arrangement was signed recently by Debora Lepre, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna, and the UNIDO Director- General, Gerd Muller.
Ambassador Lepre expressed Italy’s commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture and economic resilience, stating: “The signing of this funding arrangement marks an important milestone in our long-standing collaboration with UNIDO and aims to trigger a chain reaction to attract other partners and investments, promoting a new paradigm of development cooperation as a partnership between equals.”
The UNIDO Director -General, Gerd Müller, emphasized the urgency and significance of the partnership, stating: “Around 125 million people worldwide depend on coffee for their livelihoods.
This programme will help to improve the lives of the people at beginning of the coffee supply chain. Better jobs and better incomes for families and communities.
I am very grateful to the Government of Italy and to all of our other partners in this initiative. Transforming Africa’s Coffee Sector: UNIDO and Italy Drive Climate-Resilient Solutions.”
Coffee remains one of the world’s most important cash crops deeply embedded in our cultures and economies, sustaining over 12.5 million farms globally.
In Africa, coffee accounts for approximately 12% of the global production.
Coffee plays a fundamental role, representing a source of foreign currency, tax income generation, and jobs in both producing and consuming countries.
Despite the increasing global demand for coffee, the sector faces mounting challenges, including climate change, fluctuating global prices, and regulatory pressures, all of which threaten the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers.
