Representatives of coffee production in Brazil and Colombia met on 14 June at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, in Brasilia, Brazil to seal an alliance to find solutions to the persistent coffee price crisis.
Organisations taking part in the dialogues included the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (FNC), Conselho Nacional do Café, Minasul, Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuaria do Brasil, Brazilian Specialty Coffees Association, Associação dos Sindicatos dos Productores Rurais do Sul de Minas, Sistema, Sociedade Rural Brasileira, and Frente Parlamentar do Café.
Ten months after the leaders last met in August, coffee prices continue below production costs, aggravating the impoverishment of the coffee regions around the planet, and making the future supply of coffee to consumers uncertain.
Read more:
• Coffee prices reach newest low in more than a decade
• World Coffee Producers Forum declares need for action on coffee price
The FNC says the response of the rest of the value chain, despite multiple attempts at dialogue by the countries and the World Coffee Producer Forum (WCPF), has been unsatisfactory.
The alliance will see action taken on several fronts, including bringing producers closer to final consumers and increasing value at origin, with the goals of better distributing wealth throughout the supply chain, guaranteeing the economic sustainability of producers, and the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The countries say they will also insist on the importance of market transparency and coffee futures contracts reflecting the realities of the market, without the interference of external factors that affect prices and increase uncertainty.
The two countries consider it essential to promote that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the United States government regulate the participation of non-commercial actors in coffee futures contracts, and other measures to increase transparency in price formation and efficiency in risk coverage tools.
They also analysed the viability and impact of the management of coffee stocks at origin.
Reaffirming the commitment to balanced supply and demand, Brazil and Colombia, acting with the WCPF, will actively promote the implementation of a global project to increase consumption in producing countries, as well as joint scientific work to develop alternative uses for coffee.
The details of these actions will be discussed at WCPF from 10 to 11 July in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
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