Excerpt from KIM ELENA IONESCU’s introduction of the newly republished SCA White Paper titled Gender Equality and Coffee: Minimizing the Gender Gap in Agriculture, released this week in celebration of #EqualPayDay. Many readers of the Blueprint for Gender Equality in the Coffeelands— including those that read it when it was first released in late 2015— …
We face a global water crisis. Rapid economic development combined with exponential population growth over the past century are increasing demands on water resources, while environmental degradation threatens water supplies. As a result, water scarcity has risen to the top of the list of global, social and economic risks. Poor people are disproportionately affected by …
Update: Thanks to all who joined us for this webinar! The recording of the session can be found above. Click here to download the slides presented. By KIM ELENA IONESCU Photo: Participants at Avance Guatemala The decision to elevate sustainability to the level of a center – along with research, education, and events – was …
By RAINA LANG, Director of Sustainable Coffee Markets at Conservation International. Additionally, low market prices make farmers question whether reinvesting in new coffee trees will pay off. Yet, if we are to double coffee production in a way that improves the livelihoods of producers while conserving nature, we must find ways to support farm renovation …
CHAD TREWICK introduces the main discussion points in the SCA’s Farm Profitability Report in Issue 3 of 25 Magazine. When delegates voted with their feet, they confirmed what many of us have advocated for some time: the coffee industry cannot ignore a risk to production on a global scale. In a bid to better understand the …
Update on February 9, 2018: We have included a Q&A session from the webinar at the end of this post. Update on January 31, 2018: Thanks to our attendees and panelists who joined this SCA Sustainability Webinar yesterday. The number of registrations overwhelmed the webinar system we use, preventing many registrants from joining the session. …
By KIM ELENA IONESCU According to a 2016 report commissioned by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the Global Coffee Platform, and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, the global coffee industry spends $350 million USD each year on sustainability initiatives directed at coffee producers. In addition to that total figure, the Coffee Sustainability Catalogue, which is based …
As part of its mission, the SCA is actively involved in sustainability and looks to its members to take leadership roles in sustainable practices within the specialty coffee sector. With this in mind, the Sustainability Award was created in 2004 to promote, encourage and honor the efforts of those serving as role models through sustainable …
By Lily Kubota On the morning of October 11, 2017, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) welcomed over 150 coffee producers, buyers, traders, roasters, and other coffee industry professionals to Anacafé—the Guatemalan national coffee association headquartered in Guatemala City—for the first-ever SCA sustainability conference: Avance. The purpose of this two-day event was to engage sustainability leaders and passionate …
A new report by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) reveals that increased yields on coffee farms tend to decrease their profitability in the short term, debunking the popular belief that high yields are a precursor to the economic sustainability of a farm. The report was launched at Avance, SCA’s new sustainability conference, hosted in Guatemala …