Farmers be Made Stakeholders in Coffee Value Chain : Goyal

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi  : Union Commerce & Industry and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on October 15, 2019, addressed the curtain raiser event in New Delhi for the 5^th World Coffee Conference (WCC) & Expo to be held in Bengaluru from September 7-12, 2020.  This is the first time that the World Coffee Conference and Expo will be held in Asia.

Goyal, in his address, urged the Coffee Board of India and the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) to bring in innovation to the conference and expo by crowd sourcing ideas from citizens. He further urged ICO and Coffee Board of India to look at ways that will make Indian coffee a brand that is recognised worldwide and formulate ways to make India a sustainable destination for coffee.

He also said that methods may be explored to make coffee farmers stakeholders in the value chain as this will have a positive impact on the 25 million families who depend on coffee cultivation the world over. Goyal suggested that a rupee may be added to every cup of coffee that is bought all over the world by coffee lovers and this can be given to the coffee growers to make a positive impact on the lives of coffee growers and their families, according to a PIB release. Goyal said that the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka will extend full co-operation for the success of the 5^thWorld Coffee Conference (WCC) & Expo to be held in Bengaluru from September 7-12, 2020.

The World Coffee Conference & Expo in Bengaluru is expected to be attended by delegates of all 76 member countries of the ICO and over 1,000 attendees, including coffee growers, exporters, representatives from government, private sectors and international agencies.

India will be hosting the WCC 2020 as it is the 5^th largest exporter and producer of the coffee in the world and is emerging as the major coffee consuming country. The Government of India has also a strong focus on increasing coffee plantation. The global community also desires to connect with coffee growers in India and Asia and WCC 2020 offers an opportunity to explore India and Asia to the global coffee community. Bengaluru is the coffee capital of India and Karnataka produces nearly 70% of India’s coffee.