Traceability Systems and Landscape Approaches for Sustainable Coffee Trade: Capturing and Reclaiming Value in the South

  • Background

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    Consuming countries increasingly seek to ensure that value chains are deforestation-free. We are at a turning point where such value chains can be steered to the benefit or detriment of commodity-producing countries, depending on how deforestation-free requirements are implemented. If implemented poorly, deforestation-free policies could harm socio-ecologically rich, agroforestry-based commodity production systems that support rural livelihoods. They could also shift even more value to consuming countries where nature-tech companies’ traceability services are typically headquartered.

  • Aims

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    The project will identify ways to implement the EU Deforestation Regulation based on locally adapted, landscape-level sustainability criteria that support vulnerable producers. The project also aims to 
    localize traceability (e.g. satellite monitoring) and certification services in Ethiopia, in order to create more value locally.

    The project will pursue opportunities for more stable and remunerative prices and other financial incentives for deforestation-free coffee, strengthening the business case for ecological practices in producing countries. The project addresses pressing sustainable development needs concerning trade of forest-risk commodities following entry into force of the EU Deforestation Regulation.

    The project’s main objectives:

    • Promote a public, locally adapted “deforestation-free” standard (and related compliance assessments) within the framework of a landscape approach for Ethiopian forest coffee and agroforestry coffee that reflects socioecological realities, prioritizing vulnerable
      stakeholders; the objective includes raising awareness of the standard in Ethiopia, the EU and Switzerland.
    • Foster institutional and technical capacities in Ethiopia through co-learning spaces to localize related traceability (satellite data-based monitoring platform) and certification
      services in Ethiopia; the objective includes raising awareness of accreditation options in the EU and Switzerland.
    • Enhance the understanding and expertise of stakeholders regarding policy options for more stable and lucrative pricing, in addition to extra financial advantages, for forest and agroforestry coffee cultivated in deforestation-free landscapes. These efforts
      relate to trade policy measures and financing for conservation and climate change.
  • Relevance

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    This project promotes deforestation-free requirements and traceability systems that prioritize the ecological, sociocultural, and economic well-being of producing countries. Solutions are being tested in designated pilot sites in Ethiopia, with a focus on the coffee sector. The project will also raise awareness, beyond the Ethiopian context, of its innovative solutions and opportunities for scaling up.