IFC, ECOM to Establish Training Centres for Coffee Farmers

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has recently signed a cooperation agreement with Atlantic Commodities Vietnam Ltd, a subsidiary of ECOM Agroindustrial Corporation, to establish the first training centre for Vietnamese coffee farmers to help them meet international certification standards, improve the sustainability and productivity of crops, and increase their earnings.

 

This training centre is part of a larger plan for IFC to provide investment and advisory services to help ECOM Group, a global coffee trader, establish several farmer training centres. The plan includes a $55 million, five-year corporate loan facility for use in six countries, including Vietnam, which was committed in June 2008.

 

The new training centre, which will target 4,000 farmer households over three years, will help smallholder farmers qualify for sustainable coffee certifications like Utz, Rainforest, or 4C. ACOM and IFC expect about 50,000 non-ECOM farmers to benefit indirectly from exposure to best management practices, and information disseminated by the project.