Lecture Description
The industry knows that coffee's future depends on farmers' ability to adapt to a changing climate, but what is less known is whether and how the market will pay to enable these adaptation strategies. Put simply: when farmers can't afford to invest in resilience and supply chains inherit the risk, who pays the cost? The conversation around resilience cannot be decoupled from the conversation on prosperity—covering costs and ensuring dignity—and Living Income Reference Prices are a framework for understanding how smallholders can afford to invest in regenerative practices or remain trapped in vulnerability.
This panel brings together sustainable livelihoods experts, data scientists, and coffee industry professionals to examine the role fairer pricing plays in building a climate-adaptive, regenerative coffee sector. Panelists will explore the interplay between sustainable agricultural practices and market incentives, and how they affect the ability to implement a holistic approach to farmer resilience.
The session will focus on the data and calculations needed to close income gaps and achieve true resilience, featuring an in-depth discussion of the Living Income Reference Price (LIRP) model—a data-driven framework linking farm practices to prices that sustain dignified livelihoods and enable adaptation—along with case studies from Mexico and Rwanda.
Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026
Time: 9:00 am - 10:15 am
Location: Room 24AB
Category: Sustainability
Access: This lecture is free to attend with a World of Coffee entry badge. Register to attend World of Coffee here.
Please note that lecture sessions are open on a first-come, first-served basis. Early arrival is highly recommended to secure your seat.
Speakers
Colleen Anunu
Sr Advisor for Coffee, Fairtrade International
Colleen Anunu is the Sr. Advisor for Coffee at Fairtrade International, leading coffee product strategy and coordination among a diverse group of coffee stakeholders in the Fairtrade system. Colleen’s vision is a transformed coffee sector that sees more power and value in the hands of producers. They have previously served as Co-Managing Director and Head of Product Development for New York-based Gimme! Coffee Cooperative, as Director of Coffee Supply Chain at Fair Trade USA, and is a Past President of the Specialty Coffee Association.
Anneke Theunissen
COO, CLAC - Fairtrade
Anneke Theunissen has worked with CLAC Fairtrade, the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fairtrade Smallholder Producers and Workers, since 2013. Currently, she is Chief Operating Officer and coordinates the main operations of CLAC in the field, assisting approximately 900 Fairtrade Producer Organizations in their process of empowerment and organizational strengthening, human rights, access to markets, inclusion, climate resilience and advocacy.
Molly Leavens
Program Manager, Sustainable Food Lab
Molly Leavens is a Program Manager at Sustainable Food Lab, where she works with multinational food companies, NGOs, and public agencies to improve smallholder farmer livelihoods and climate resilience. Her work focuses on corporate sustainability strategy, living income, and regenerative agriculture across coffee and cocoa supply chains in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. She holds a BA in Food and the Environment from Harvard University and an MA in Management and Global Affairs from Tsinghua University.
Jessica Mullan
Senior Director of Strategic Advisory & Measurement Systems, COSA
Jessica leads COSA’s advanced measurement systems and global advisory services to assess sustainability in agricultural supply chains.
Her work spans both the private and public sectors working in large-scale and smallholder systems. She has created and deployed measurement systems for global institutions and multi-nationals such as the Gates Foundation’s Agile Data Initiative, McDonald’s Sustainability Improvement Platform, PepsiCo’s Livelihoods Improvement framework, FAO’s Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems for Smallholders and the Global Coffee Platform’s Data Standard. Most recently, she has been leading the technical working group on livelihoods and income for the Digital Integration of Agricultural Supply Chains Alliance (DIASCA).
Vanusia Maria Carneiro Nogueira
Executive Director, International Coffee Organization (ICO)
Victor Enrique Cordero Ardila
Commercial Manager, Red Ecolsierra