The Robusta Coffee Agency of Africa and Madagascar (ACRAM) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) organized from 26 to 30 April 2021 a Regional Meeting on African Robusta Coffees with the theme: “Post Covid 19, what approach for the resilience of the Robusta coffee sector in Africa?”

Discussions focused on sharing strategies and good practices adopted by different countries and management bodies to mitigate the impact of Covid19 on the coffee value chain. 

This major meeting was also dedicated to the work of the 9th GENERAL Assembly of ACRAM and the implementation of the ACP/EU – ACRAM Programme (2020-2024). It aims to contribute to the promotion of African Robusta coffees by improving productivity, competitiveness and trade alliances.

This program also supports ACRAM’s Strategic Action Plan 2020 – 2024.

On the sidelines of its meeting, a high-level meeting was held with the largest coffee authorities and development partners. Indeed, ACRAM, ITC, the Inter-African Coffee Organization (OPCW) and the International Coffee Organization (ICO) intend to pool their intervention efforts in the various projects underway for the benefit of the ACRAM space to better meet the expectations of actors in the value chain.

At the end of its meeting, it should be noted that the 9th General Assembly of ACRAM reappointed the Gabonese Ismael NDJEWE to the post of Executive Secretary for a two-year term.

And among the main projects to be carried out in the short term, the 9th General Assembly of ACRAM adopted:

• The Draft Memorandum of Understanding between ACRAM, the International Trade Centre and the Coffee Centre of Excellence of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences for the establishment of a Coffee Academy, “ACRAM COFFEE ACADEMY” in 2022;
• The signing of a Framework Agreement between ACRAM and the Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD) based in Montpellier, France. A Regional Coffee Research Programme will be set up in September 2021.

The objective of this program is to introduce in ACRAM member countries, high-performance plant material with high productivity.

• The establishment in each country of the ACRAM space of a college of women coffee producers;
• The creation of an Economic Forum of African and Malagasy Robusta (FERAM) whose first edition will take place in Côte d’Ivoire in 2022.

To all these projects, it is worth adding the development of a Decentralized Cooperation Project between Vietnam and ACRAM members facilitated by the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) and for which GABON has been selected as a pilot project. 

The work of the Regional Meeting on African Robusta Coffees was enhanced by the interventions of officials from the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the European Union, the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Download the reports of some ACRAM committees and the various resolutions taken during the 9th ACRAM General Assembly :

Some pictures of the 9th General Assembly of ACRAM: