African Fine Coffees Review Special Edition Oct-Dec - EAFCA

12
AFCA presents on Certification
at ICO Seminar
The ICO seminar on certification was held on 25 September 2012
at the ICO council chamber. The theme of the seminar was
the Economic, Social and Environmental Impact of Certification
on the Coffee Supply Chain. With support from the CFC/ICO/EU
Project (CFC/IC/45), AFCA was invited to make a presentation on
the activities of project on building capacity in coffee certification
and verification in AFCA countries.
The title of the presentation was Activities of the CFC/ICO Project
on building capacity in coffee certification and verification for
specialty coffee farmers in AFCA countries, and lessons learnt
about certification and verification in Africa. The seminar was
held by espousing issues in two panels. The first panels discussed
the perspectives of certification bodies and the demand side of the
coffee value chain. The second panel focused on the perspectives
and experiences of the coffee producers. The output from the
seminar discussions was that sustainability of the coffee value chain
was important for both producers (supply chain) and consumers
(demand side). And that, certification should be viewed as an
integral part of the sustainability of the value chain. However, it
was noted that there were significant challenges that required to be
addressed on certification for it to be sustainable.
Presentation was made by Mr Filtone C. Sandando, AFCA Project
Manager for the CFC/ICO/EU Project (CFC/IC/45)
Coffee Breakfasts Held in
Malawi and Zambia
In August 2012, the African Fine Coffees
Association held coffee breakfasts in Malawi and
Zambia under the theme “AFCA: Discussing
Great Opportunities over a Cup of Coffee.”. Both
breakfasts attracted various key stakeholders from
the chapter countries.
The Zambian breakfast was held at the
Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka on the 29th
August 2012 while the Malawi breakfast was held
at the Casa Mia Hotel in Blantyre on the 31st of
August 2012.
The Chapter Chairmen of Zambia and Malawi
both thanked members for attending while the
Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kamau Samuel shared
with members the AFCA Strategy.
AFCA delegation also visited the famous Munali
Estates in Zambia.