GCP and IDH: Renewed partnership for farmer prosperity

GCP and IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative have committed to continuing their strategic partnership in the period 2022-2025. GCP and IDH share a common vision of a thriving, sustainable coffee sector which implies the expectation of farmers’ prosperity based on closing the living income gaps, workers’ well-being, equitable distribution of value and risk, and conservation of nature.

According to Tessa Meulensteen, Senior Program Manager Coffee, IDH, the two organisations share the goal of transformational change for smallholders. “By working together we aim at moving the coffee sector towards the economic viability of coffee farming and the closing of living income gaps in selected countries through scaling up innovative approaches and sharing learnings with clearly measurable outcomes on farmer incomes over time.”

GCP will work with IDH and the broader GCP Membership also to advance GCP’s foundational belief that sustainability is a shared responsibility.

According to Annette Pensel, GCP Executive Director, “Building on the body of assets already in use at local and global levels, including the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code and the GCP Equivalence Mechanism, we will work together to support the private sector’s transition towards sustainable coffee sourcing through encouraging and enacting principles of shared responsibility for sustainability.

This will include exploring concepts of value and risk distribution to address and advance farmers’ prosperity systemically”.

Annette Pensel talks to Tessa Meulensteen:

The continuation of the partnership falls in line with GCP’s new strategy to become the change agent around farmer prosperity through advancing coffee sustainability in collective action. Both organizations will continue to work together with the ICO (International Coffee Organisation) as public partner, and others to contribute to the Roadmap 2030 and to convene the coffee sector around relevant Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”). This includes enhancing coordination and collaboration, strengthening the enabling environment for systemic change and enabling more efficient and effective use of resources.

“Within this coordination and collaboration we believe that farmer prosperity must be at the core of any sustainability initiative – this requires systemic change. This change can only be achieved through effective sector cooperation and smart investments,” said Pensel.