Today, the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) announced that President Bill Clinton, the Founder of the Clinton Foundation & 42nd President of the United States, will address the World Coffee Producers Forum, which will be held in Medellin, Colombia, on July 10-12, 2017.

President Clinton, whose global work in Africa, Latin America, and around the world has been instrumental in the fight against poverty and the promotion of economic and social development, especially in rural areas, will participate in a panel with Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, on “Economic Sustainability and Rural Development to promote Global Stability and Democracy.”

According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), about 25 million households, 125 million people, mostly small farmers, live from coffee production in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Challenges such as a sustainable income for them and endangered coffee production due to climate change will be at the core of the agenda of the Forum. At the same time, some industry estimates consider that – as consumption grows – in the next 30 to 40 years coffee production will have to double.

The World Coffee Producers Forum, the first of its kind, is a joint initiative of coffee producers’ associations from Africa, Asia and Latin America that will gather 900 attendees representing more than 40 producing countries, members of the coffee industry such as roasters, traders and retailers, financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and government representatives.

“On behalf of the World Coffee Producers Forum, we want to welcome President Clinton to our Forum. He is one of the most respected global voices on promotion of sustainable economic development in the developing world. As a Colombian, I am also very proud to welcome him. His commitment to our country since 2000 through Plan Colombia was crucial to turn around years of violence that affected all of us, including our coffee growers,” said Roberto Velez, CEO of the FNC.

The first World Coffee Producers Forum will reunite the whole coffee value chain to analyze and address its most important challenges, such as farmers income, climate change and productivity, and propose and implement collective actions to face them. Its first edition will be hosted by the FNC in Medellin, following the celebration of its 90th anniversary.

The FNC is a coffee producers’ association that represents more than 550,000 coffee-growing families in Colombia, in almost 600 municipalities of Colombia (about 54% of the total).