Togo: Enselme Gouthon, the new boss of the International Coffee Organization
Togolese Enselme Gouthon, Secretary General of the CCFCC (Coordinating Committee for the Coffee and Cocoa Sectors) in Togo, was promoted to the presidency of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), at the 5th World Coffee Conference in India.
The conference, co-organised by the ICO and the Indian Ministry of Trade, brought together 2.600 delegates from 80 different countries. Togo, which has held the organization’s Vice-Presidency since the previous year, now sees its representative occupy the highest position in the ICO.
This election comes at a crucial time when the coffee industry is facing major sustainability and development challenges. The ICO, the leading intergovernmental coffee organisation, facilitates dialogue between exporting and importing countries. With members representing 98% of coffee production and more than 67% of global coffee consumption, the organization’s mission is to strengthen the global coffee sector and encourage its sustainable development, in a logic of market economy profitable to all the actors of the sector.
The choice of Enselme Gouthon to chair the ICO is not accidental. With a rich experience of 40 years in the coffee industry, the one who also heads the ACRAM (Robusta Coffee Agency of Africa and Madagascar), succeeds the Italian Max Massimiliano Fabian. Its mission promises to be arduous. The Togolese inherits a set of great challenges. Sustainability of the sector, stability of coffee prices in the international market, adaptation to climate change, and technological innovation will be at the heart of its mandate. In addition, improved economic conditions in developing countries are an essential link in the coffee production chain.
On the sidelines of the conference, Enselme Gouthon was honored by the Indian authorities and the Coffee Board of India, in recognition of her commitment to develop the production and consumption of African and global coffee, and to support farmers’ incomes.
