GLOBAL COFFEEPLATFORM

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), three well know words but what do they really mean and what implications do they have for coffee? A question that GCP is often asked by Sustainability Managers who well know the terminology but not so much what it entails, what the scope is and even less understanding the implications the climate crisis has on the supply chain. To close this ‘knowledge gap’ GCP partnered with the Alliance for Resilient Coffee and created the CSA Learning Series. The modular webinar series brought together an array of experts sharing their knowledge and insights to help Sustainability Managers understand, design and act upon their ideas to address the climate threat coffee is facing.

The modules of the CSA Learning Series focused on analyzing one issue at a time:

• Understanding climate change and the coffee sector (introduction and terminology)
• How is climate change affecting my supply chain? (risk profiles)
• How can I manage the effects climate change is having on my supply chain? (tools)
• How can I scale up Climate Smart Agriculture? (scale)
• How do I know if my investment in Climate Smart Agriculture is working? (monitoring)
• How can I convince my company and others to invest in CSA? (business case)
• How can collaboration work? Bringing action to origin (collaboration)

Achieving tangible impact at origin is easier said than done. Sustainability Managers face different challenges simultaneously due to the complexity of coffee farming and specific needs of each coffee producing country. In the concluding module on collaboration, two approaches were shown how it can work. The Alliance for Resilient Coffee presented packages for supply chains that will guide Sustainability Managers to choose concrete action. GCP Members are advancing with a collaborative approach called Collective Action Initiatives addressing identified issues in the coffee sector linked to the agenda of a National Coffee Platform. The initiatives surpass a supply chain approach being open to various stakeholders for support and participation to achieve greater scale. Results and learnings are publicly shared thus benefiting the whole sector.

CSA Learning Series Speakers:

CSA Learning will never stop, that’s for sure. In a dynamic environment and the climate crisis at our heels the only way to thrive is working together and learn from each other. The Global Coffee Platform thanks the Alliance for Resilient Coffee for their contribution and encourages interested companies to reach out and seek new initiatives.

If you are interested in CSA-related activities, contact Caroline Glowka.