Coffee is one of the most traded commodities around the world, but its market as well as its production conditions are unstable, which is threatening the sustainability of the production system, particularly since the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement in 1989. This thesis focuses on Colombian coffee policies during the last 25 years, in order to analyze their contribution to sustainable development of the coffee sector. The study shows that while many sustainability actions have been undertaken, they have not been grounded in a comprehensive sustainable development policy. For this reason, this thesis suggests addressing the issue from two perspectives: firstly, from a perspective of productive inclusion into the global value chain and secondly, from a social inclusion perspective, which rural development policies should promote from the local level. Institutional strengthening is essential to create synergies between the two approaches.