New education and research programme aims to forge stronger links between coffee farmers, roasters and consumers to elevate quality and sustainability across the supply chain
The new programme seeks to elevate coffee quality and promote best practice to improve farmer profitability | Photo credit: Christian Joudrey
Caravela Coffee has partnered The Center for Coffee Research and Education at Texas A&M University to launch a new research and education programme.
In a joint press release, the organisations said the new partnership would foster academic, scientific, development programmes, and research focused on agriculture and coffee sciences to benefit the coffee producers around the world.
The initiative will also develop a coffee education programme for roasters, coffee professionals and consumers in the US to strengthen ties across the supply chain.
The new programme will initially focus on developing a syllabus for roasters to strengthen business ties with and knowledge of producing countries. It will also use virtual courses to deliver education and certifications and work with Texas A&M’s faculty and students to generate research and development focused on improving
farmer profitability and encourage
sustainability.
Announcing the partnership, Caravela pledged $200k as an initial commitment to help kickstart the programme and invited other like-minded coffee businesses to sign-up.
B Corp-certified Caravela has a long track record of supporting coffee supply chain development and education. Its PECA (Programa de Educación a Caficultores) trains and educates more than 2,000 farmers every year on how to produce specialty grade coffee, with a focus on quality, efficiency, sustainability, and farm management.
Meanwhile, the Center for Coffee Research and Education was established in response to rapid growth within the specialty coffee industry and the imperative to improve farmer livelihoods. Housed within the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and Development at Texas A&M University, the centre provides training and education for coffee farmers, agronomists, researchers, business leaders, and consumers through research, training, and international development.