During this gathering, member-countries decided to embark in a new strategic direction, following the successful completion of the task undertaken by the Working Group on the Strategic Review of the International Coffee Organisation, under the chairmanship of Mr Aly Touré, Permanent Representative of Côte d’Ivoire.

As a result, a Five-year Action Plan was adopted with a view to “emphasizing the contribution of coffee to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through income generation and poverty alleviation”. 

The theme for this event is Sustainable Coffee Development for the Emergence of African Coffee. It will be followed by the 57th Annual General Assembly meeting, due to take place from 06 to 08 December 2017, in Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire.

Under the chairmanship of Mr. Aly Touré, the Board of Directors examined the IACO 2017-2022 strategic plan and the progress report for the construction of the Organisation’s future Headquarters.

The ICA 2010 came into force five years ago and was due for a review which would establish its relevance in the current economic climate. Hence, the Council decided that the International Cocoa Agreement was still a useful tool which should be amended, in line with Article 63.