FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today highlighted the importance of strengthening international cooperation to support coffee-producing countries and communities, as FAO and the International Coffee Organization (ICO) renewed their longstanding partnership through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Welcoming Vanúsia Nogueira, ICO Executive Director to FAO headquarters, the Director-General said the renewed agreement builds on more than two decades of successful cooperation since the first MoU was signed in 2004.
“Coffee is much more than a drink,” the Director-General said. “It provides livelihoods for millions of family farmers, creates employment across the value chain, supports rural development, and contributes significantly to export earnings in many low- and middle-income countries.”
He noted that current challenges highlight the need to strengthen resilience, improve market transparency and reinforce international cooperation. At the same time, he said these challenges also provide an opportunity to accelerate innovation, promote sustainable production and trade, empower coffee producers, and further strengthen the resilience of the sector.
The Director-General emphasized that FAO and the ICO share common objectives in promoting a more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable global coffee sector, as well as a common belief that partnerships are essential to address increasingly complex global challenges.
“Through coordinated action, we can translate our collaboration into concrete actions that deliver tangible benefits for communities and coffee service providers,” the Director-General said.
Source : FAO