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A stronger future for coffee starts by strengthening the places and communities where that journey begins. Credit: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

By Boubaker Ben Belhassen
ROME, Sep 30 2026 (IPS)

Imagine your morning coffee. You smell the aroma as steam rises from the cup. It wisps and swirls, thins, then disappears. You lift the cup to your mouth. The first pure joy of the day.

That coffee may have begun beneath shade trees in Ethiopia, on a Colombian hillside, in Viet Nam’s highlands or among the coffee farms of Brazil. Long before it reached your cup, someone planted and tended the trees from which it came. Then came the harvest. Ripe cherries were picked with care, and the coffee began a journey that would carry it far from the place where it was grown.

Building a stronger future for coffee therefore begins where coffee itself begins: with productive and resilient farms, open and transparent markets, and greater economic opportunity in producing countries

Few agricultural products connect people across such long distances. Coffee is among the world’s most widely traded commodities. Coffee supports the livelihoods of up to 25 million farmers worldwide, while millions more people participate in the economic activity created along the coffee value chain.

Coffee’s extraordinary global reach has created livelihoods and economic opportunities across continents. It has also connected millions of small producers to a market in which shocks can propagate quickly. Building a stronger future for coffee therefore begins where coffee itself begins: with productive and resilient farms, open and transparent markets, and greater economic opportunity in producing countries.

International Coffee Day is a moment to celebrate what coffee has made possible. It is also a moment to ask what its future will require.

Recent years have shown why. International coffee prices have experienced large fluctuations as weather has affected production in major producing countries and supplies have tightened. Droughts, frosts and excessive rainfall can disrupt harvests, while pests, diseases, rising costs, geopolitical tensions and shipping delays can add further pressure.

That exposure is amplified by the concentration of production in relatively few places. Brazil and Viet Nam together account for nearly half of global coffee production, while five countries supply around 70 percent of global coffee bean exports. With such concentration, a shock in one major producing region can quickly reverberate far beyond it.

Those shocks are transmitted unevenly through coffee value chains, with producers generally more directly exposed to fluctuations in international prices. The answer is not to prevent prices from moving. Markets respond to changes in supply and demand, and prices will inevitably rise and fall. Greater resilience therefore depends on strengthening the capacity of producers and producing countries to adapt and respond when conditions change.

The first priority is production itself. Coffee farming must remain productive and competitive while adapting to changing conditions. More resilient farming systems, innovation and technology, effective management of pests and diseases, and better tools for managing risk can help stabilize production and incomes and boost investment in the future of the crop.

Transparent markets and timely information are essential. Better and timely information on crop conditions, stocks, trade flows and prices reduce uncertainty and help producers, governments and businesses understand changing market conditions and adjust sooner. At a time when disruption in one major producing region can affect markets around the world, international cooperation and greater transparency become even more important.

Stronger production and better markets provide the foundation. But there is also an opportunity to create more economic value from the coffee that producing countries already grow.

The bean’s economic journey is far from finished when it is harvested. Coffee is processed and transported, then may be roasted, packaged, branded, distributed and eventually sold to consumers. Each stage requires investment, expertise and enterprise, while creating opportunities to generate additional economic value.

Much of the coffee produced in low- and middle-income countries is exported in raw form as green beans for processing and distribution elsewhere. Coffee therefore often enters international trade relatively early in its economic journey, leaving opportunities for producing countries to develop more economic activity around the later stages of the value chain.

Where commercially viable, improvements in quality can help producers reach different and potentially higher-value markets. Processing can create additional economic activity, while certification and branding can provide further scope for upgrading within coffee value chains. The opportunities will vary across countries, and investments should focus on areas in which producers and businesses can compete successfully.

Greater resilience in coffee production and greater economic opportunity around what happens after it is produced are complementary ambitions. Productivity, innovation and risk management can strengthen the productive foundation of the sector. Transparent markets can help participants respond to changing conditions. And commercially viable upgrading can broaden the economic opportunities created around the crop.

Realising these opportunities requires cooperation across the coffee value chain. Producers, traders, processors, roasters, retailers and governments perform different roles in moving coffee from the tree to the consumer. International cooperation, market transparency, innovation and investment can strengthen those connections and support a coffee sector that is more productive, competitive, resilient and sustainable.

Coffee already demonstrates what international trade can achieve. A crop grown by millions of farmers, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries, reaches consumers across the world and sustains economic activity throughout its journey. The next opportunity not to miss is to strengthen this connection while creating more economic possibilities in the places where coffee is grown.

Tomorrow morning, the journey begins again. Steam will rise from your cup. Somewhere far away, coffee trees will be tended and another harvest prepared.

The journey from crop to cup already connects millions of people around the globe. A stronger future for coffee starts by strengthening the places and communities where that journey begins.

Boubaker Ben-Belhassen is Director of the Markets and Trade Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Excerpt:

Stronger farms and better markets can build a more resilient coffee economy

Les guichets d’Algérie Télécom adoptent un nouveau tempo. L’opérateur public a fait savoir, ce mercredi, que l’accueil du public dans ses agences commerciales obéira désormais […]

L’article « Dès le 1er octobre » : Algérie Télécom dévoile ses nouveaux horaires d’ouverture est apparu en premier sur .

The government authorises the hunting of elephants and dozens of other wild animals for independence day feasts.

Khalilur Rahman (second from right), President of the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, chairs the High-level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

By Shreya Komar
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 30 2026 (IPS)

The United Nations High-level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) on September 25 called for faster and more sustained investment in pandemic preparedness. Speakers emphasized that future outbreaks will require coordinated action across governments, health systems, and communities.

The meeting, held three years after the General Assembly’s first high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness, focused on lessons from COVID-19 and persistent gaps in global health security.

“No country can protect itself alone,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said, underscoring the need to turn the lessons of COVID-19 into long-term preparedness.

Opening the meeting, Dr. Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly, highlighted three priorities: closing financing gaps, adopting a stronger “One Health” approach, and ensuring equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and other essential medical tools.

“All countries need and deserve well-funded community-based systems for detection, surveillance, communication and containment,” Rahman said, calling for predictable and sustainable financing. He also stressed that pandemic preparedness must address the links between human, animal and environmental health, arguing that stronger understanding of these interactions could help prevent outbreaks from reaching human populations. Equitable access to life-saving tools, he said, is both a matter of justice and a critical component of containing outbreaks.

In a press briefing held on the same day, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that global investment in health security has declined since the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, reviving what he described as a cycle of “panic and neglect.”

Although countries and international institutions have established new mechanisms for pandemic preparedness, Tedros said the scale and speed of investment remain insufficient.

The WHO has launched and supported a range of initiatives since the pandemic, including the Pandemic Fund, strengthened pandemic and epidemic intelligence, vaccine and medical countermeasure initiatives, the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, the WHO BioHub System and the Global Health Emergency Corps.

Countries have also strengthened the international framework governing pandemic response. In 2024, WHO member states adopted amendments to the International Health Regulations, while the WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted the following year.

However, recent outbreaks, including Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have underscored the continuing risk of infectious diseases crossing borders and becoming international threats. Tedros said the possibility of a future respiratory pandemic remains particularly concerning because of the potential scale of its impact.

A key issue still under negotiation is the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system, which is intended to establish arrangements for sharing pathogen materials and information while ensuring that countries providing those resources benefit from vaccines, diagnostics and other products developed from them.

Tedros urged countries to conclude the negotiations. “So today, I leave you with just one request: get PABS done as soon as possible. Please conclude the negotiations as soon as possible,” he said. “We are as strong as our weakest link.”

He also emphasized the importance of investing in countries more vulnerable to pandemics, not as an act of charity, but rather as collective action against the common goal of pandemic prevention. Sustained financing and stronger international cooperation will be central to preventing future outbreaks from becoming global emergencies.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

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L’article Traversées France-Algérie : Algérie Ferries impose de nouvelles règles aux véhicules est apparu en premier sur .

Citizen participation, in various forms, has long played a part in African societies, with mixed results. In line with recent constitutional/decentralization reforms, Morocco and Kenya have shown political will and institutional commitment to invest more in participation. The chapter analyzes the two countries’ participatory approaches as a political agenda that is closely tied to decentralization politics and therewith to power plays between different stakeholders, including donors. Based on a comparison of the two cases, the chapter examines how the newly introduced spaces enable or disenable citizens to challenge power structures. The chapter finds that, despite positive effects in terms of citizen mobilization and partial accountability, the limited scope and scale of participatory institutions means that the outcomes of the approach are procedural rather than politically transformative. At the same time, the different trajectories of the two countries illustrate the importance of embedding the assessment of each case in the history of participatory practices and local political economy.

Citizen participation, in various forms, has long played a part in African societies, with mixed results. In line with recent constitutional/decentralization reforms, Morocco and Kenya have shown political will and institutional commitment to invest more in participation. The chapter analyzes the two countries’ participatory approaches as a political agenda that is closely tied to decentralization politics and therewith to power plays between different stakeholders, including donors. Based on a comparison of the two cases, the chapter examines how the newly introduced spaces enable or disenable citizens to challenge power structures. The chapter finds that, despite positive effects in terms of citizen mobilization and partial accountability, the limited scope and scale of participatory institutions means that the outcomes of the approach are procedural rather than politically transformative. At the same time, the different trajectories of the two countries illustrate the importance of embedding the assessment of each case in the history of participatory practices and local political economy.

Citizen participation, in various forms, has long played a part in African societies, with mixed results. In line with recent constitutional/decentralization reforms, Morocco and Kenya have shown political will and institutional commitment to invest more in participation. The chapter analyzes the two countries’ participatory approaches as a political agenda that is closely tied to decentralization politics and therewith to power plays between different stakeholders, including donors. Based on a comparison of the two cases, the chapter examines how the newly introduced spaces enable or disenable citizens to challenge power structures. The chapter finds that, despite positive effects in terms of citizen mobilization and partial accountability, the limited scope and scale of participatory institutions means that the outcomes of the approach are procedural rather than politically transformative. At the same time, the different trajectories of the two countries illustrate the importance of embedding the assessment of each case in the history of participatory practices and local political economy.

A game of rock, paper, scissors is used to determine when the elite female and male races will take place at next year's two-day London Marathon.

À un mois du troisième sommet Russie-Afrique, prévu les 28 et 29 octobre à Moscou, la sécurité aérienne s'ajoute au bilan des promesses russes. Air Tanzania a suspendu puis rétabli sa liaison. L'Europe déconseille de voler dans l'ouest de la Russie. Et les échanges restent loin de l'objectif annoncé en 2019.

Air Tanzania, un signal africain

Début septembre, Air Tanzania a suspendu ses vols entre Dar es Salaam et Moscou à compter du 4 septembre, avant d'annoncer, quelques heures plus tard, leur reprise pour le 7. La compagnie a invoqué une évaluation des risques liés à l'exploitation de la liaison, sans préciser les éléments ayant motivé ce revirement.Cette brève suspension souligne les incertitudes qui pèsent sur la desserte de la capitale russe. Pour les délégations africaines attendues au sommet, la sécurité du voyage s'ajoute désormais aux enjeux diplomatiques de la rencontre.

Une alerte jusqu'en janvier 2027

L'Agence de l'Union européenne pour la sécurité aérienne (EASA) déconseille aux compagnies relevant de son champ d'application de voler dans l'espace aérien russe à l'ouest du 60ᵉ méridien est, quelle que soit l'altitude. La région de Moscou fait partie des cinq zones concernées. Actualisée le 24 juillet 2026, cette alerte reste valable jusqu'au 31 janvier 2027.L'agence pointe le risque qu'un avion civil soit pris pour une cible militaire, ainsi que les dangers liés à l'activation des défenses antiaériennes et au brouillage des systèmes de navigation par satellite. Elle relève que la plupart des incidents se sont produits dans des espaces maintenus ouverts au trafic civil pendant des attaques de drones ou des opérations de défense antiaérienne. Cette alerte ne constitue toutefois pas une interdiction générale des vols vers Moscou.

Deux drames, 336 morts

Le 17 juillet 2014, le MH17 a été détruit par un missile Buk au-dessus de l'est de l'Ukraine : 298 morts. Le 25 décembre 2024, l'accident d'Azerbaijan Airlines près d'Aktau, au Kazakhstan, a fait 38 morts. En octobre 2025, Vladimir Poutine a reconnu que des missiles russes avaient explosé à proximité de cet appareil lors d'une riposte contre des drones.Ces catastrophes totalisent 336 victimes. Elles concernent des lieux et des circonstances différents : ce total ne mesure pas la probabilité d'un accident à Moscou. Il rappelle les conséquences possibles de la coexistence entre aviation civile et opérations militaires.

Commerce : 31 % sous la promesse

Le bilan économique pose une autre question. En 2019, Poutine promettait de doubler les échanges avec l'Afrique, d'environ 20 à 40 milliards de dollars. Pour 2025, Irina Abramova, directrice de l'Institut d'Afrique de l'Académie russe des sciences, avance 27,7 milliards.

Sur cette base, le commerce atteint 69,3 % de la cible, laissant un écart de 12,3 milliards, soit 30,8 %. Ce calcul repose sur une valeur nominale annoncée, sans corriger l'inflation ni mesurer les retombées pays par pays. À Moscou, l'enjeu sera double : sécuriser les déplacements et démontrer, chiffres à l'appui, ce que le partenariat apporte aux économies africaines.

Un troisième sommet sous le signe du doute

À quelques mois du rendez-vous de Moscou, deux questions se posent aux partenaires africains : dans quelles conditions leurs délégations pourront-elles s'y rendre et quels résultats concrets peuvent-ils attendre de cette coopération ? Entre risques aériens et promesses économiques encore partiellement tenues, ce troisième sommet Russie-Afrique s'annonce comme un test de crédibilité pour le Kremlin. Au-delà des déclarations de partenariat, Moscou devra apporter des garanties de sécurité et des engagements dont les retombées puissent être mesurées.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced far-reaching reforms in areas such as social care, pensions, energy and housing at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. He also announced plans to seek closer cooperation between the UK and the EU. The UK had been on the wrong track for too long and its course must be corrected, he explained. Commentators see this as a turning point but their interpretations vary.

The eviction of an 87-year-old tenant in Madrid has sparked massive protests across Spain. The government has now passed two decrees providing stronger protection for tenants, including a ban on evictions of particularly vulnerable people until 2030. The Spanish press debates whether the measures will be enough to alleviate the housing crisis.