Executive Programme in Coffee Innovation and Business
This project develops an innovative Advanced Diploma on the Coffee Value Chain in Kenya, combining global innovations with local opportunities. It equips coffee experts, entrepreneurs, and value chain professionals with knowledge, technologies, and practical skills to secure qualified employment or build innovative businesses in the coffee sector.
The program addresses the key challenges faced by the sector: traditional and fragmented production, market volatility, poor regulatory compliance, and absence of holistic value chain training. It uses a practical, modular, blended-learning approach (in-person, synchronous and asynchronous online) involving international academics, world-class coffee companies, local experts, and Kenyan universities.
E4Impact Key Activities:
- Overall coordination and program design through co-creative partnership approach
- Management of cross-disciplinary partnership integrating academic, business, technological, global, local, social and environmental aspects
- Recruitment of 25 participants per cohort and overall academic coordination
- Training of trainers and managers for Kenyan university partners to ensure program replicability and sustainability
- Design and delivery of 3 Modules: supporting students in business plan development with mentoring from private sector, non-profit and academic experts. Organization of pitch day with international expert jury for final project presentations
- Development of training manuals, digital repository and sustainability plan for program replication in Kenya and other African countries
Target Beneficiaries:
- Cooperative and farm managers
- Independent experts and consultants
- Coffee estate owners and entrepreneurs
- Young family members from coffee-growing families.
Expected Results:
- One Advanced Diploma cohort with 25 qualified participants creating impact in Kenya’s coffee supply chain
- Trained Kenyan university staff for program replication
- Training manuals and sustainability plan for scaling across Africa
- Joint certificates and diplomas from all promoting organizations.