Over 75,000 East African farmers to benefit from $60m coffee deal between IFC, Absa, and Volcafe

Thousands of coffee farmers in East Africa are set to benefit from a US$60 million commodity trade finance facility from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Absa. The funds will be channeled through Volcafe, a global green coffee merchant. Absa Group is based in South Africa while IFC is a member of the World Bank Group. The commodity trade initiative will strengthen Volcafe’s operations in East Africa, supporting tens of thousands of coffee farmers. It will also provide working capital for purchase of coffee cherries – the fruit from which coffee beans are extracted – from smallholder farmers and local traders. Also, the initiative will assist in processing, storage, and transport of coffee to export ports. East Africa is a major coffee-growing hub, accounting for over 80 percent of the continent’s production and 10 percent of the global total. An estimated five million smallholder farmers rely on the coffee industry for jobs and livelihoods in East Africa. But most ...