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What is the Global Fund?

Since 1996, Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) has worked to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it. We deliver that mission through education and working in partnership with communities, local and national governments, and international agencies. We area non-profit, global organization that offers customized education solutions, informed by coffee experts and decades of experience, delivering long-term impact that builds self-sufficiency. CQI has created highly reputable coffee education programs in both Quality Evaluation and Post-Harvest Processing. With deep roots in the coffee industry, CQI also facilitates market connections to build healthier supply chains and thriving coffee communities.

In an effort to better support the coffee communities we serve, CQI established the CQI Global Fund in 2022. The Global Fund provides a way for the coffee industry to support activities that incorporate CQI’s education classes and courses, technical support and assistance, and global network of experts to advance initiatives that empower coffee communities that may not have access to educational opportunities either through the private sector or through other donor-funded programs.

GLOBAL FUND IN ACTION - AFCA

CQI and AFCA have a long history of working together to implement training and assistance across Africa. Starting in 2006 and continuing through to today, CQI has been a frequent partner on grant-funded coffee development projects in Africa.

CQI and AFCA signed a memorandum of understanding in early 2023, setting the course for active collaboration. As an implementation (or expression) of this cooperative spirit, AFCA was selected to pilot the first Global Fund activity.  Together we worked to develop the AFCA Coffee Campus lab in Uganda, including securing needed equipment and supplies.  We delivered the Intro Cupper Series to twelve AFCA Members, and offered a Q Arabica Recertification Course to AFCA member Q Graders who had expired licenses. Through that seven coffee professionals were able to renew their Q Grader certification.  

GLOBAL fund ON DECK - mexico

Cafecol in Veracruz, Mexico is a non-profit organization that works to ensure a sustainable future for their coffee communities through coffee science, technology, innovation, and through working with the government sector to bring about agro-ecological and social-economic results.  

Cafecol is collaborating with Mexico-based CQI Instructor, Jorge Luis Martinez Marin on their CQI Global Fund award. The project will result in both quality evaluation training and post-harvest processing training for smallholder producers from Puebla and Veracruz. Women and the next generation of leaders (ages 18-40) will be given priority and will be primed to return to their communities to serve as future leaders in high quality coffee production. Cafecol says that “Young people with access to knowledge will have a new vision of coffee growing which will translate into a desire to continue in the coffee business. By developing abilities and providing professional knowledge to small-holder producers, coffees with higher quality and different flavor profiles will be grown, which will allow access to new markets with the possibility of increasing the price of the product. Consequently, producers will feel more secure due to the technical support obtained through the CQI Q system, whose certifications are the most recognized within the framework of specialty coffees.”