US-based coffee company Starbucks announced Thursday its commitment to strengthen its efforts to create pathways out of poverty for coffee-farming communities in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, according to a statement it sent to the Global Times.

Photos: VCG

By the end of 2023, the Starbucks China Farmer Support Center will train 50,000 farmers across the region, while improving the education and health of 6,000 children in 30 villages in the region. 

The first phase begins with a pilot program with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in Conggang and Nankang villages. Worth 3.5 million yuan ($500,000), the initial grant from the Starbucks Foundation is the first partnership to positively change the lives of China's coffee-farming communities.