Could Coffee Eliminate Borders?

Could Coffee Eliminate Borders?

ROME, Mar 30, 2012 (IPS) - A diverse blend of coffee is going to pervade the city of Milan in 2015. World producers will come together to show, exchange and market their coffee in a global alliance without geographical-based membership.

The Expo 2015, scheduled to run from May 1 – Oct. 31 in the Northern city of Milan, Italy, will focus on food and nutrition. Titled "Feeding the planet, energy for life", the Expo aims at stimulating and leading a global discussion on the challenges linked to food production, safety, availability and nutrition.

Along with the usual exhibition spaces built by participating countries, the Italian Expo will introduce thematic spaces meant to gather within the same architectural project a number of countries sharing a common theme.

Coffee producers have already met in Rome, where delegates of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Nicaragua, Uganda, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia discussed how to build a shared space at the Expo.

"The ‘cluster’ approach is an innovative model of participation in an Expo, and it is the first time that it is (being) applied," Filippo Ciantia of the International Affairs Department for Expo 2015

According to Ciantia this approach will give equal dignity to all participating countries, despite their political or economic weight. "In past (Expos), countries that were not able or didn’t want to run their own autonomous space – which (requires) quite a big investment – were put in joint pavilions, geographically grouped, so you had the African space, the Asian space, and so on.

"But the world has changed and we want an Expo that reflects the 21st century. The voices and experiences of developing countries – especially on a theme like ‘feeding the planet’ – are essential for success. Gathering countries around a thematic issue will allow the Expo to really address the issues of agriculture, nutrition and sustainable development.