Press release Feb EAFCA FINAL

							Press release


FAST at the 6th Annual EAFCA Conference and Exhibition

Kigali, 14th of February 2009- The Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST)
celebrates its successful presence at EAFCA and signs MOU with the Common Code for the
Coffee Community association (4C).

In its 6th year, the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association Conference and Exhibition has
successfully brought together more than 400 delegates and 62 exhibitors from key areas of the
coffee value chain. As part of this conference, private and public sector stakeholders from 10
member countries of EAFCA in the sustainable coffee production and trade arena, mainly Burundi,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia expressed significant interest towards the
FAST initiative, membership and projects.


During the event, 7 new member producer and trade organizations have signed up for membership
and have been provided with a lender directory start bridging the communications gap between
producer and lenders as they gain access to affordable trade finance. At least 50 others expressed
interest in becoming members of the association.


In Addition to promoting membership in East African countries, with a mission to balance its global
positioning, FAST’s active role in the conference led to networking opportunities with new
stakeholders sparking interesting discussions about FAST market expansion programs and project
implementations in East Africa to increase financial access for African coffee producers.


Following discussions, FAST’s regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Guus Rozendaal,
announced today that FAST would establish office in Nairobi, Kenya, by July 2009 and will be up and
running by fall this year. With a recognized need to operate in the East African region, FAST will
continue to carry on its mission to ensure the continued growth of sustainable production and trade
by increasing the number of producers who successfully access affordable trade finance.


Furthermore, at today’s conference, FAST’s executive director, Noemi Perez, signed an MOU (Memo
of Understanding) with Annette Pensel, decentralization and support services manager of the 4C’s, a
base line approach whose main pillars aim at continuously improving the social, environmental, and
economic conditions for the people making their living from coffee.




18 Feb 2009 - r4       FINANCE ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE TRADE                                         1/2
Pedro Avella                       Building livelihoods through sustainable trade finance.
FAST together with the 4C’s expect to continue working on a more sustainable future for smallholder
producers in the areas of improved capacity building and good agricultural practices. Producers
working under the 4C’s scheme commit to progress in the implementation of better practices and be
verified by 4Cs, so that later they can become certified under credible sustainable schemes.


FAST encourages those producers that are not yet implementing sustainable practices to commit to
the improvement of their practices so that they can become eligible to access affordable finance for
sustainable trade and production.

About FAST


FAST is an international, member driven, non-profit organization, working to improve the financial
situation of Sustainable Small and Medium Enterprises (SSMEs) in developing nations by making
financial opportunities a reality for thousands of producer organizations. With more than 100
members in 24 countries, FAST represents commercial lenders, socially oriented and alternative
lending institutions, Sustainable Small and Mediums Enterprises (SSME) producer organizations,
development focused institutions and other stakeholders in the agricultural commodities supply
chain committed to promoting sustainable production and trade within theis respective capacities.
Through the development of joint projects, high-level advocacy, shared strategies and enhanced
transparency, FAST will improve the operational effectiveness of socially oriented lending
institutions. For more information, visit www.fastinternational.org.



About 4C’s


Within the Common Code for the Coffee Community Association (4C Association), procedures, trade
& industry and civil cosiety from around the world work together for more sustainability in the entire
coffee sector. This global community has joined forces to continuously improve the social,
environmental and economic conditions for the people making their living from coffee. Main Pillars of
the 4C are a code of conduct, participation rules for trade & Industry, support mechanisms for coffee
farmers, a verification system and the participatory governance structure. For more information,
visit www.4c-coffeeassociation.org.




18 Feb 2009 - r4       FINANCE ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE TRADE                                        2/2
Pedro Avella                        Building livelihoods through sustainable trade finance.