(13 June 2017) “When I die, bring me coffee, and you will see that I will resurrect like Lazarus” once said Eduardo De Filippo. Coffee is a way of life, but not just in the pleasant moment when it is tasted in a cup. It is – and must be – a source of life for those who are at the base of its production pyramid. Programmes in the coffee industry of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation focus on the improvement of the quality of coffee and at the same time the living conditions of small farmers, in order to reduce their socio-economic and cultural vulnerability towards greater sustainability. As part of the CafeyCaffè project – “Regional Network of Support Associations of Small Coffee Makers in Central America and the Caribbean”, the Café de El Salvador was opened in the premises of the Muna Museum of Anthropology in San Salvador. The Secretary of Culture Silvia Regalado; Executive Director of the Salvadoran Council of Coffee, Hugo Hernández; the Italian Ambassador, Umberto Malnati; Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Marco Falcone; and the Coordinator of the CafeyCaffè programme, Massimo Battaglia will all be present at the inauguration. In addition, members of the beneficiary cooperatives from the project were present. Falcone stressed in his speech: “We firmly believe that this experience is an important opportunity to promote coffee culture in El Salvador. This means that the average consumer knows the characteristics of coffee, and is able to choose coffee according to specific criteria, eventually becoming a coffee lover. This means that coffee has to become a ritual at the time of preparation”. According to Ambassador Malnati, in order to support a true coffee culture, “it is important that more and more El Salvadorians can enjoy a coffee produced under decent conditions”. Co-ordinator of CaféyCaffé, Battaglia, explained that one of the objectives of the CafeyCaffè programme in El Salvador is “to promote the consumption of good coffee locally as a synthesis of a territory and its traditions, retrieving its history and its culture. Giving back to coffee this bond with its land of origin is part of our responsibilities especially at this moment in time that is characterised by a crisis that goes beyond the economy – in the face of which the rural world is called upon to discover alternative models and solutions. (Red)
