São Paulo – Retaining leadership of the global coffee market with competitiveness, from seed to cup, will be the focus of the Strategic Agenda for Coffee Agribusiness in Brazil, passed by the minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Reinhold Stephanes. Forecasted items include statistical improvement of production, inventories, consumption and production costs for coffee; specific actions turned to the research, training, certification, geographic positioning and sales sectors, exports of industrialised coffee, and focus on the domestic market for ground, milled and soluble coffee.
To the executive secretary at the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Silas Brasileiro, the agenda is an important instrument in the face of the international financial crisis, as national competitiveness is threatened by growing production costs and unfavourable exchange rates. “Its implementation is going to be essential in order to ensure and enhance the Brazilian leadership position in the global market with technology, quality and innovation," he says.
In the opinion of the director at the Brazilian Coffee Exporter Council (CeCafé), Guilherme Braga Abreu Pires Filho, the Agenda for Coffee Agribusiness is the first of its kind and represents progress in terms of setting the priorities and actions that will drive the sector’s integrated development. “It grants objectivity to the initiatives due to its clear statement of purposes, generating consensus and ensuring better conditions for its implementation and results,” he claims.
The president at the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (Abic), Almir José da Silva Filho, agrees with the executive. For him, the Agenda represents evolution in the Brazilian Coffee Agribusiness and reflects the coordinated actions of the production chain. The agenda tackles the problems and the solutions so that the sector may continue to develop and retain global leadership. “We have the foundation on which to lay the strategic plan, in the medium and long terms, for the next five to ten years,” he informs.
The secretary for Production and Agroenergy, Manoel Bertone, regards this program as essential for the sustained development of the sector. "We received specific instructions from minister Stephanes, stating that coffee policies must count on the active participation of all sectors in the coffee production chain, and that joint work must be carried out," he claims.
Strategic Agenda
The agenda describes the main topics identified in the competitiveness matrix, and proposes actions for each one of them, points out guidelines for the development of strategic plans, programs and projects, suggests agents for implementation and guidelines, and proposes budgets. According to the special advisor for the Sector and Theme Chambers of the Ministry of Agriculture and coordinator the Strategic Agenda Workgroup, Aguinaldo José de Lima, “The issues regarded as crucial by those involved in the production chain have been organised,” he claims.
According to Lima, the Strategic Agenda for Coffee Agribusiness in Brazil will be prepared by means of workshops, working committees and specific actions to be taken by the boards of directors at the Deliberative Council for the Coffee Policy (CDPC).
The agenda’s elaboration counted on the participation of representatives of the government and of private organisations under the CDPC, such as the National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (Abic), the Brazilian Instant Coffee Association (Abics), The Brazilian Coffee Exporter Council (CeCafé) and the National Coffee Council (CNC).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
