Value of the AFCA conference to Coffee Stakeholders in the world
Participating in the AFCA Conference presents many benefits which may be immediate, medium and long term and depending on the preparations that one makes prior to the conference, there is definitely a good return on the investment. It is important to know on the onset that it is only the AFCA conference that convenes under one roof a diversity of quality global community of coffee personalities and organizations in Africa. This diversity includes but not limited to scientists, researchers, farmers, traders, roasters, consumers, equipment and machinery manufacturers, policy makers, NGOs, diplomats, intergovernmental organizations, academicians, journalists, politicians, civil society organizations, students, women and men. The implication of this is that you have to get something out of the conference including among other things;
AFCA conference is indeed a network of influence. It is a conference that brings who is who in the specialty and fine coffee market segment. Interacting with specialty coffee buyers directly by farmers and origin traders and exporters is an opportunity not only to make deals but create interpersonal relationships that put humanity at the center of coffee trade. This certainly improves the image of the global coffee value chain that had for a long time seen as a curtail depriving plight and dignity of farmers. Therefore, the AFCA conference proves positively that the coffee value chain is an ecosystem that cherishes human relationship in a collaborative but competitive manner.
AFCA conference enables participants to learn trends in the world of coffee regarding consumption, trading, and production and research. A case in point is the value that the conference puts on sustainability and gives it a whole day of deliberations. Sustainability is not something that is ease to achieve single handedly. It is something that requires understanding of how to work in partnerships in an ecosystem that requires three dimensions of sustainability; social inclusion, environmental considerations and economic progress.
Does one need a Career development in Coffee? It is again the AFCA conference that presents the world standard coffee career and professional development. The Coffee value chain presents a unique language of its own and diverse sets of skills required among actors along the entire value chain. The various presentations made by different speakers provide continuous learning and acquisition of skills for continuous improvement. It is also interesting to learn that prior to the conference different countries and companies and individual farmers and traders are able to present their coffees for national and regional taste of Harvest. This alone enables actors to put themselves voluntarily to competition to know how they fair among peers for continuous improvement and better marketability of their coffees.
Sharing of experiences to learn from one another is another value that the AFCA conference brings to the world of coffee people. Do you want to find unique coffees from specific ecological region for example along the equator, the undulating hills and mountain ranges of Mountain Rwenzori or volcanic soils of Mountain Elgon or Lake Victoria crescent? The AFCA conference is the answer. Good ideas and conversations among likeminded people are shared. This has its own personal fulfillment and satisfaction it brings because it is from the best of the environments of deep knowledge and content of a global value chain. One gets to know what exactly customers of different countries and regions want.
