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Director-General QU Dongyu

UN FOOD SYSTEMS SUMMIT STOCKTAKE (UNFSS+4) High-Level Panel: “Advancing Transformation of the Coffee Value Chain” Statement

by Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General

27/07/2025

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues and Partners,

Each cup of coffee tells a global story — of culture and trade, but also of livelihoods under pressure and resilience in the face of crisis.

Today, over 25 million farmers depend on coffee. Smallholders produce 80% of the world’s supply, yet nearly half of them — about 5.5 million people — live on less than USD 3.20 a day.

Transforming strategic value chains like coffee is no longer optional — it is essential to achieving a more resilient, more equitable, and more sustainable future.

Let me share three critical realities.

First, climate resilience must come first.

The climate crisis is redrawing the coffee map. By 2050, up to half of the current coffee-growing land may no longer be viable. The threat is no longer distant — it is happening now, with rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and pest outbreaks.

FAO is working with countries to adapt to these challenges and supporting countries to turn them into opportunities. For example:

  • In Panama, indigenous farmers are managing pests and conserving traditional systems through FAO’s Farmer Field Schools programme.
  • In Cuba, we’re strengthening cooperatives under the joint project with IFAD – PRODE-CAFE.
  • And in East Africa, we are scaling agroforestry and climate-resilient coffee varieties that protect biodiversity and sequester carbon.

    Second, we must navigate new market realities.

    FAO is supporting producers and governments in countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and Uganda to:

    Assess readiness and design traceability systems;

    Align policies with global standards;

    Mobilize investment to help over 200,000 smallholders improve productivity and market access through our technical tools, digital platforms, and policy support.

    Third, investment must follow ambition.

    FAO’s Investment Centre, with six decades of experience, is helping countries unlock financing through:

  • Blended finance mechanisms;
  • Investment planning and risk management; and
  • Capacity-building for producer organizations.

    In Brazil, Costa Rica, and Honduras, we are working together with the World Bank to raise efficiency and farmer incomes.

    In El Salvador, through the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative, we supported the design of a national coffee plan.

    At FAO our focus is clear: investments must be viable, green, and inclusive.

    Coffee must be seen as a driver of agrifood systems transformation as it links climate, trade, biodiversity, and livelihoods, and Indigenous communities.

    FAO is empowering rural communities, especially women and youth; leveraging biodiversity for economic transformation; and accelerating climate action through sustainable production

    These actions align fully with the goals of this Stocktake: to scale country-led efforts, accelerate SDG progress, and leave no one behind.

    Dear Colleagues,

    Transforming the coffee value chain is not just an economic necessity — it is a matter of justice, dignity, and the right of every farmer, especially smallholders and rural farmers, to a better future.

    FAO stands ready — with knowledge, data, tools, and a steadfast commitment to partnerships.

    Let’s continue to work together. Let us act boldly. Let us invest wisely.

    As I always say if as a small child you play alone, you will be lonely. So, let us play together, work together, learn together and change together!

    And let us put smallholder coffee farmers at the center of agrifood systems transformation.

    Enjoy your coffee, and held the coffee growers and producers!

    Thank you.