The Executive Director of SICA1, Lic. Edgar Chamorro, the Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Lic. Hugo Alexander Flores, and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador (MARN), Ing. Herman Rosa Chávez, inaugurated today the first Regional Forum on Coffee and Climate Change: "Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Coffee Production in Central America."
Taking the Regional Environmental and Health Strategy (ERAS) as a framework, the main objective of the Forum is to promote a Coffee Agenda for the Adaptation to Climate Change in Central America (ACCCCA) among actors of the coffee supply chain. This agenda will define actions and policies and promote commitments among stakeholders on how to address the impact of climate change in the coffee sector in the region.
The Forum, held in San Salvador, is organized by the 4C Association, FUNDE
(Fundación Nacional para el Desarrollo) and the initiative RUTA in collaboration with Rainforest Alliance, SalvaNATURA Ecological Foundation and the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC).
"The goal is that the Forum won’t just be a mere two-day discussion but that the results and ideas that are born here will be fed into the definition of a Coffee Agenda for Adaptation to Climate Change. We intend to define and agree on concrete actions for adaptation and mitigation, which will be taken up in the work plans of each organization and promoted at the national and regional levels," stated Roberto Rubio Fabián, Executive Director of FUNDE and spokesperson of the Forum’s organizers.
The Forum brings together for the first time, representatives of the main stakeholders in the coffee sector in Central America to address the issue of climate change and its impact on coffee production. Among the 125 participants are representatives from producer organizations, members of trade and industry, academia, NGOs, financial institutions and service providers, public sector entities and national and Central American cooperation agencies.
"The Forum provides a unique opportunity to bring together all stakeholders, learn from each other and share experiences. It is the first time we have an exchange of its kind in Central America, specifically focusing on climate change, a problem that is seriously threatening the future of coffee culture in the region. This is an issue we must address together because it affects all actors in the supply chain”, explains Lic. Edgar Chamorro, Executive Director of SICA.
During the Forum, participants will discuss in depth the effects of climate change in the coffee sector, exchange lessons learned and best practices and try to identify solutions to this problem together. They will also take part in parallel working groups to address different aspects and issues for the definition of ACCCCA. This includes strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, organizational structure, financing mechanisms and agreements and next steps.
The results and decisions of the Forum will be available on the websites of the 4C Association, FUNDE and RUTA in the coming weeks. They will also be published on the websites of SICA, the Central American Commission on Environment and Development and the Central American Agricultural Council.
