Brewing resilience: Generali and UNIDO back climate-smart coffee value chains in Africa

A new public–private partnership between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Generali is setting out to strengthen Africa’s coffee sector against mounting climate and economic pressures. The two organisations have signed a joint declaration under the ACT Programme, Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee, aimed at promoting sustainable production, local value addition and improved livelihoods across key coffee-growing regions on the continent.

The collaboration is designed to improve socio-economic conditions in coffee-producing communities while helping farmers and local enterprises adapt to climate shocks that increasingly threaten yields and incomes. It also seeks to reinforce international technical cooperation and responsible trade in one of Africa’s most important agricultural commodities.

The ACT Programme is funded by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation under the EU Global Gateway and Italy’s Mattei Plan priorities. UNIDO serves as programme lead, working alongside the International Coffee Organization, the Inter-African Coffee Organization and private sector partners. Generali contributes as a technical advisor through Generali Global Corporate and Commercial, its centre of excellence for parametric insurance.

Initial implementation will focus on Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi. The programme applies a five-pillar framework covering value addition, climate action, regulatory compliance, research and social inclusion, with finance embedded as a cross-cutting enabler.

Andrea De Marco, Programme Manager and Partnership Advisor at UNIDO, said the initiative reflects a broader push to link climate resilience with inclusive industrial development. He noted that the partnership with Generali demonstrates how public and private actors can combine expertise to protect livelihoods, strengthen local value chains and promote fairer participation in global agricultural trade.

From the private sector perspective, Generali has underlined the growing risks climate change poses to agricultural systems worldwide. Lucia Silva, the Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer, stressed that insurance solutions, particularly parametric insurance, can play a critical role in helping farmers and agribusinesses manage climate-related losses, especially in developing economies where protection gaps remain wide.

The partnership will prioritise deeper cooperation between governments, development institutions and the private sector to mobilise resources and share technical knowledge. It will also support joint analytical work focused on insurance solutions tailored to Africa’s coffee value chain, alongside dialogue and impact measurement tools to track social and environmental outcomes.

Together, UNIDO and Generali aim to support more resilient and inclusive coffee value chains that allow African producers to adapt to climate change while capturing greater value locally. The ACT Programme stands as a practical example of how aligned public and private investment can translate global climate and development commitments into concrete benefits for communities on the ground.

For Africa, where coffee remains a source of income for millions yet is increasingly exposed to climate volatility, such partnerships matter. Strengthening resilience today offers young coffee-producing economies a chance not only to weather climate shocks, but to build fairer, more sustainable trade systems that reflect the continent’s long-term development ambitions.

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