The sustainability landscape in the coffee sector

At EFICO, green coffee specialist since 1926, contributing to a positive impact and coffee legacy is key. Our sustainable sourcing commitment goes hand in hand with investment in a sustainable coffee future through our EFICO Foundation.

COFFEE FOR PEOPLE, PEOPLE FOR COFFEE

Established as a private foundation in 2003 by Patrick F. Installé, late member of EFICO’s founding family and Michel Germanès, Managing Director, the EFICO Foundation’s goal is to positively impact coffee farmers’ livelihoods, prosperity and environment. The multi-stakeholder approach adopted is unique and is a dynamic tool to foster partnerships. The EFICO Foundation is about PEOPLE – from coffee farmers, their families and local communities to coffee roasters and coffee lovers.

Donors/Partners:

Innovative and scalable projects are supported in coffee producing countries, along with the coffee roasting community and institutional partners.

Key activities:

Foster partnership building, quality education, knowledge transfer, actively work to adapt to and mitigate negative effects of climate change & sustainable income increase for coffee farmers

Signature projects/tools:

• Colombia ∙ A new generation of coffee entrepreneurs  
• DR Congo ∙ Strengthening of two smallholder coffee cooperatives beyond their break-even towards full financial autonomy
• Ethiopia ∙ Improve quality education in primary schools of coffee producing communities
• Guatemala & Honduras ∙ World Coffee Research Global Coffee Monitoring Program
• Guatemala ∙ Knowledge transfer and quality education as a driver for women smallholder coffee producers and youth
• Guatemala ∙ First climate-friendly coffee worldwide: Promoting climate-friendly practices in coffee, pilot project 
  and replication : Implementing climate-friendly coffee farming in Central America

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities:

Since 2003, the EFICO Foundation reports back and shares learnings on more than 70 projects in 17 producing countries. This fits within a larger framework of our commitment to the principles of the United Nations Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals.

Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) is a private non-profit foundation and managed philanthropy established in 2005 by the family of Michael R. Neumann. The foundation continues work that was started in 1991 under the company Embden, Drishaus & Epping Consulting that today forms part of HRNS’ equity.

HRNS aims at improving the social and economic situation of smallholder families in tropical countries, protecting the environment, and promoting the perspectives of youth. The foundation realizes its objectives as implementer and sometimes also as co-sponsor through practical interventions in the form of projects, programs, and other suitable measures in the areas of agriculture, farm management, youth, gender equality, climate, and organizational development. HRNS also engages in partnerships, cooperates with like-minded partners from the public and private sectors, and shares experiences and motivation with third parties to create synergies and to benefit from each other’s knowledge.

Donors/Partners

Although HRNS is financially independent, it has a wide range of funding and cooperation partners from the private and public sector including family owned and ethically responsible companies, private foundations, development- and government organizations. The complete list is available here: https://www.hrnstiftung.org/our-partnerships/

Key activities

HRNS supports smallholder families through a holistic approach to improve their livelihood situation by raising income and strengthening their competitive position. Emphasizing on coffee as a starting point of work, HRNS usually addresses the entire production system, farm and household management as much as organizational development and the adaptation to climate change. HRNS fosters gender equality for supporting joint decision-making and empowering women as members and leaders in farmer organizations. HRNS also seeks to unlock the potentials of the young generations to gain better perspectives in their lives and, by becoming responsible members of local societies, to contribute to shape rural areas and coffee landscapes of the future.

Signature projects/tools

• International Coffee Partners (ICP) (https://www.coffee-partners.org/).
• Initiative for coffee&climate (c&c) (https://coffeeandclimate.org/)
• Coffee Kids (https://www.coffeekids.org/)
• TEAM UP: Improved Livelihood Prospects for Youth in East Africa (https://www.hrnstiftung.org/project/team-up/)
• The Alliance for Resilient Coffee (ARC) (https://www.allianceforresilientcoffee.org/)

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Brazil: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

Ethiopia: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

Guatemala: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

Honduras: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

Indonesia: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

Tanzania: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

Uganda: Gender, youth & indigenous peoples – Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Technical assistance – Renovation – Access to inputs – Access to finance

The Kahawatu Foundation aims at sustainably impacting the lives of 400,000 growers in East Africa by 2025, while continuously improving environmental standards. The Kahawatu Foundation promotes proud and resilient rural communities, improved farm economics for smallholders, as well as sustainably managed landscapes. In addition, the Foundation works towards achieving environmentally and socially compliant supply chains and working conditions through socially approved community programmes.

Donors/Partners

The Kahawatu Foundation is partnering with Sucafina, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the International Trade Center (ITC), Nestlé/Zoegas, Illy Caffè, the Lavazza Foundation and the Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria (ICU).

Key activities

The Kahawatu Foundation’s activities focus on enabling smallholder coffee farmers, both men and women, to increase productivity and optimize income via improved technical skills, access to agricultural inputs and to markets.  They enforce a holistic approach which empower the entire household and protects soils, water and ecosystems. They do organise monitoring, evaluation and learning activities. They do also deliver trainings and capacity building programmes. The Kahawatu Foundation supports coffee households through empowerment and improvement of the resilience of the farmers, productivity and of coffee quality. The programmes are not generic in design; they are based on the needs and conditions of the location where they are implemented. The Foundation also encourage better farm management practices, sustainable farming practices and climate resilience.

Signature projects/tools

• Burundi Coffee Alliance (BCA)
• Sustainable Development Initiative in the Rwanda Coffee Supply Chain
• Building a Stronger Coffee Value Chain, Rwanda
• Kalungu Cherries Project, Uganda

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Burundi: Good Agricultural Practices – Access to inputs – Climate change – Standards/Certification – Farmer organisation management – Producer country policy

Ethiopia: Good Agricultural Practices – Access to inputs – Climate change – Standards/Certification – Farmer organisation management – Producer country policy

Kenya: Good Agricultural Practices – Access to inputs – Climate change – Standards/Certification – Farmer organisation management – Producer country policy

Rwanda: Good Agricultural Practices – Access to inputs – Climate change – Standards/Certification – Farmer organisation management – Producer country policy

Uganda: Good Agricultural Practices – Access to inputs – Climate change – Standards/Certification – Farmer organisation management – Producer country policy

In 2004, in order to coordinate, manage and effectively implement economic, social and environmental sustainability projects in coffee growing countries, Lavazza Company established the non-profit Giuseppe and Pericle Lavazza Foundation. Ever since, the Foundation has been promoting and financing a wide range of sustainability projects in coffee-producing countries, in some cases on its own and in others through public and private partnerships.

Donors/Partners

Lavazza Foundation implements projects with different approaches: direct projects where Lavazza Foundation operates as the unique donor (e.g. Tierra Project implemented by HRNS); projects in pre-competitive partnership co-financed by other roasters or traders (ICP, C&C); projects in partnership with suppliers (Sucafina, LDC); projects in partnership with NGOs (Oxfam, Save the Children).

Key activities

The main areas of work to achieve the Foundation’s objectives are spreading good agricultural practices that promote greater coffee quality and respect for the environment, supporting coffee producers to allow them to set up and manage their own organizations: such as associations, cooperatives or companies. Promoting gender equality within families and communities; enhancing the work of the younger generations, through training programs that motivate them not to abandon the production lands and become coffee entrepreneurs; promoting the diversification of production by ensuring food security; supporting reforestation, spreading agricultural techniques that allow producers to respond effectively to the effects of climate change. Introducing a technological component to support coffee cultivation techniques.

Signature projects/tools

24 projects in 17 countries impacted on more than 97.000 beneficiaries.

• Projects focusing on coffee quality enhancement and community support (Tierra projects, ICP projects):

ICP project Brazil: https://www.coffee-partners.org/our-regions/brazil/;

Guatemala/Honduras/El Salvador ICP Trifinio: https://www.coffee-partners.org/our-regions/trifinio/;

Colombia technology transformation:https://makaia.org/en/projects/technology-for-social-change/technology-transformation-improving-the-lives-of-colombian-coffee-growers/

• Projects with a specific social focus (India, Uganda):

India:https://www.lavazza.com/en/sustainability/our-commitment/save-the-children.html; Uganda: https://www.coffee-partners.org/our-regions/uganda/

• Projects focusing on nature conservation (Perù, Ethiopia)

Ethiopia: https://www.hrnstiftung.org/project/iki/;

Peru: https://www.cesvi.eu/what-we-do/environment-and-sustainable-development/biodiversity-in-amazonia/

Lavazza Foundation implements many other projects not mentioned in the list. Further projects are available on the website indicated above.

Priority countries

Lavazza Foundation works in three main world areas:

• America (with highest concentration of projects in Brazil and Colombia);
• Africa (with highest concentration of projects in Tanzania and Uganda);
• Asia (with highest concentration of projects in Vietnam).

Mercon Coffee Group is a purpose-led global green coffee supplier with Origin companies in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and Vietnam.

LIFT is Mercon’s farmers multi-services delivery platform to improve the sustainable wellbeing of coffee farmers. With the LIFT Program, farmers improve their performance on productivity, quality, socio-environmental practices, including climate smart practices. The impact is monitored through a LIFT Index, the weighted index based on a set of KPIs. Farms, mainly smallholders, enrolling into the program receive individual farm improvement plans based on their baseline. Farms receive technical assistance and extension services, certification services. In addition to that LIFT farmers in Nicaragua also receive planting material and short and long-term credit.

Donors/Partners

Among the main supply chain partners are Mercon, Paulig, illycaffé, Lavazza, Peets, S&D, J.M. Smuckers, Caffe Nero, Reily, Lofbergs, Ronnoco. The improvement of the LIFT Index and the growth of the LIFT program are third-party verified targets for the Sustainability-linked revolving credit facility of Mercon Coffee Group, the first of its kind in the coffee sector, led by the Sustainability coordinators, Rabobank and ING.

Key activities

LIFT is currently serving over 3,000 farms with more than 80 agronomists in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and Vietnam. Farms, mainly smallholders, enrolling into the program receive individual farm improvement plans based on their baseline. Farms receive technical assistance and extension services, certification services. In addition to that LIFT farmers in Nicaragua also receive planting material and short and long-term credit.

Signature projects/tools

The LIFT platform provides meaningful interconnected services to farmers to add value to their livelihoods. LIFT is a fully digitalized program thanks to the use of mobile technology. Data collection is done online and offline by the LIFT agronomists. Data are analyzed with a BI tool to create insights. In addition to that, data and insights about the LIFT farms and the households are transparently shared to supporting partners via a LIFT App to generate value to the industry through consumers engagement.

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and Vietnam. Farmers profitability and adoption of best socio-environmental practices.

As one of the world’s largest green coffee buyers, Strauss Group’s Coffee Division launched the More than a Cup (MTAC) initiative in 2016 as a strategic commitment. The aim of the program is to support women-led coffee farms and / or cooperatives with the aim to create maximum tangible and measurable benefits for the most marginalized coffee producers. By enhancing the capabilities of coffee growers’ communities, especially local women coffee growers, we help develop women’s skills and contribute to local prosperity, project by project.

Donors/Partners

Strauss Group is acting as donor and has several collaborations with local partners in coffee origin countries.

Key activities

Currently, the MTAC initiative includes 10 different projects, supporting coffee growers’ communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. All projects operate through direct partnerships and invest in individual long-term projects, which consider the very specific need of each group of producers. By now the projects reached over 13’000 households and farms.

Signature projects/tools

Below an overview of the current projects and activities:

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Strauss Group’s Coffee Division is currently running six projects in Africa, three in Central- and South America and one in Asia.

Launched in 2010, the Nescafé Plan is how we Create Shared Value (CSV) in the coffee sector for farmers, communities and our planet and our commitment to continuously support responsible and increasingly sustainable value chains. It accelerated and expanded the work we had been doing for many decades to assist in ensuring the long-term supply of quality green coffee. It focuses on making coffee farming a more attractive activity for the present and future generations of coffee farmers, as well as improving the environmental footprint of both coffee farming and our own operations.

Donors/Partners:

Over the past 10 years we have worked with several donors like GIZ, SDC, USAID, IDH and RVO.

There are several partners with different roles, in responsible sourcing (4C, Rainforest Alliance, FairTrade among others), Farmer programs (FNC, EDE, Fundación Cohonducafe, Kahawatu, among others) and a global impact assessment partnership with the Rainforest Alliance.

Key activities:

The Nescafe Plan activities focus on responsible sourcing, improving farmer livelihoods and tackling climate change.

In responsible sourcing, to know where the coffee came from and how it was grown, we are significantly expanding our supplies of responsibly sourced coffee every year. We are already the largest single buyer of responsibly sourced coffee and look to reach 100% over the coming years.

For improving farmer livelihoods, we have farmer programs active in 15 countries, Arabica and Robusta across Latin America, Africa and Asia, reaching nearly 100’000 farmers every year with focus on improving farm economics as well as tailored social programs for women, youth and farmer business knowledge.

As for improving the environmental footprint of coffee farming, we have tailored programs for water conservation, optimized fertilization, agroforestry and intercropping.

Signature projects/tools:

• 530k MT of Responsibly Sourced coffee in 2019 (65% of total supplies)
• Farmer programs in 15 countries, reaching nearly 100’000 farmers every year
• 225 mio coffee plantlets distributed to farmers since 2010
• More than 700’000 farmer trainings since 2010
• 10 Arabica and 5 Robusta new and improved varieties from our breeding program released across 5 origin countries
• 45% factory GHG emissions reduction per MT of soluble coffee vs. 2010
• 52% factory direct water withdrawal reduction per MT of soluble coffee vs. 2010

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

We have active farmer programs in (alphabetical order): Brazil, China, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Thailand and Vietnam.

To fulfil the promise to consumers, Nespresso depends on a reliable source of the highest quality coffee. Working closely with farmers, cooperatives and other partners is the only way to strengthen the resilience of coffee producing regions and communities – especially to economic uncertainties, social inclusion and climate change. The Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program has been designed and launched in 2003 in collaboration with the Rainforest alliance.  Through long-standing partnerships with farmers, coffee suppliers, and cooperatives, and with support from NGOs, it promotes the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices on the farm and landscape levels as well as improves the productivity and quality of harvests. Since 2014, the program has also aimed at innovating solutions for broader systemic challenges faced by the farming communities, such as climate change and price volatility. The benefits for producers are multiple: technical assistance, training, premium on quality, and inclusion in co-financed projects such as retirement savings plans and agroforestry. Thanks to the network of more than 400 agronomists, the program covers more than 110,000 producers in 16 countries. In 2019, around 40 MCHF have been invested in the program (technical assistance, premium and interventions).

Donors/Partners:

Over the past 10 years we have worked with several donors like World Bank/IFC, USAID, IDH, Colombian and Dutch governments.

The Program is implemented together with a range of partners amongst others: Rainforest Alliance, FairTrade International, Fairtrade USA, IUCN, Pur Project, Fair Labor Association, Farmers associations and cooperatives, academics. It has been included in many multistakeholder initiatives (Manos al agua in Colombia, Cerrado das Aguas in Brazil, Verité COFFEE project, …)

Key activities:

Activities are designed to deliver farmers’ resilience, assets and better manage the drivers of income.

• Sourcing and physical/financial traceability of the coffee purchase: Farmers engaged in the AAA Program receive a premium for the volume of coffee sold at quality
• Training and Technical Assistance for the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices (Economic, Social, Environmental), as well as quality – Productivity
• Interventions: Additional investment into projects initiatives to drive transformational changes such as the transition of coffee farms into Agroforestry models, water stewardship and water potabilization, gender equality initiative, …

Signature projects/tools:

• Reach: the program covers 16 countries, more than 110,000 farmers and 300,000 ha of land
• 95% of Nespresso coffee volume is sourced via the AAA Program, 56% comes from certified farms
• 4.5 million trees planted (timber, fruit and shade trees) on farm or in the surrounding landscape as part of the Agroforestry initiative
• Investments into reviving origins, origins exposed to political unrest or climatic disaster: Zimbabwe, Congo, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Caqueta (peace process in Colombia)
• Social initiatives: The farmer retirement savings plan launched in Colombia together with Fairtrade and the Colombian government, the crop insurance scheme piloted in Colombia, the Gender Equality program launched with an agronomist training curriculum in partnership with KIT

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

In 2020, the program covers 16 countries: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Puerto Rico, Cuba.

NKG BLOOM is the global sustainable-sourcing initiative of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG), the world’s leading green coffee service group. It aims to positively impact smallholder coffee farmers’ livelihoods and to grow and strengthen NKG’s green coffee supply chains.

Mission: To positively advance coffee farming as a profitable business by focusing on coffee smallholders (maximum 30 hectares of planted coffee), providing farmers with access to needed services, and creating traceable and transparent supply chains through the day-to-day operations

of NKG export companies

Goal: To reach 300,000 coffee-farming families in 10 countries by 2030 with services that enable them to run their farms at full potential and meaningfully improve their livelihoods.

Donors/Partners

IDH the sustainable trade initiative, Rabobank, BNP Paribas, ABN AMRO, USAID, Mastercard Foundation, Mastercard Inc, Yara, IPC, NewForesight, Field Buzz. 

Key activities

Enabling farmers to realize their full potential: technical assistance, financing, market access, information services, high quality inputs, renovation, infrastructure

Inclusive sustainability: working with farmers to meet social and environmental standards

Transparency and traceability: track records for farmers, efficient management of the Farmer Services Unit and a roaster interface to link coffee deliveries with work in origin

Signature projects/tools:

https://nkgbloom.coffee/, https://uganda.nkgbloom.coffee/

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

Uganda: Provision of high-quality fertilizer, mobile money advances and payments, financial literacy and Good Agricultural Practices training

Kenya: IT system for cooperatives’ management, working capital and longer-term financing, technicians at cooperatives, provision of high-quality inputs, infrastructure investments.

Mexico: Provision of high-quality inputs, long-term financing, technical assistance, seedling and renovation, digital payments.

Honduras: Long-term financing, provision of high-quality inputs, technical assistance, seedlings, infrastructure support

More countries will start in the upcoming years.

Seeds for Progress Foundation’s mission is improving the access to high-quality education, a basic human right that contributes to social development and sustainable economic growth by creating opportunities to advance the quality of life, for thousands of students, hundreds of teachers and their families in the rural communities of Nicaragua’s and Guatemala’s coffee-growing regions.

Donors/Partners

Among the main partners are Mercon Coffee Group, AMERRA Capital, FMO, Tinker Foundation, Starbucks, J.M. Smuckers, Peet’s Coffee, illycaffé, Lavazza, Paulig, Caffe Nero, Macquarie, Rabobank Foundation, Embassy of Japan in Nicaragua, Embassy of Germany in Nicaragua, University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.

Key activities

Currently serving over 4,700 students and 270 teachers, Seeds for Progress focuses on the field of education.  They emphasize the development of life skills at the preschool, primary and secondary levels as well as technical training for adults.  To achieve their goals in these educational areas, Seeds for Progress’ work includes three major components:

• Improvements in school infrastructure;
• Investments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Education;
• Pedagogical Training and Mentoring. 

Signature projects/tools

Seeds for Progress’ overall strategy of Integral Development through Education focuses on four educational levels:

• Early Childhood Development (Preschool)– Their methodologies include training, monitoring, and providing educational books, games, learning kits, and any other necessary resources. 
• Strengthening of Literacy and Math Skills (Elementary)– The first three grades of primary school are crucial to educational development. Seeds for Progress seeks to not only strengthen literacy, but to also motivate students to achieve good attendance and have a genuine interest in learning. To do this, they use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as one of a primary teaching tool.
• Coffee School Curriculum (Secondary)– This program is a being developed as a high school program that seeks to improve access to life skills (including entrepreneurial skills) and to develop possibilities for students living in an agricultural context.  Students learn about coffee production through a dynamic curriculum and project-based learning integrated across school subject areas.
• Technical Training and Entrepreneurship Courses (Post-Secondary)– Seeds for Progress also provides technical education courses with a focus on coffee to young people in rural communities.
• Learning Bridges during Harvest Season- Is a program that offers childcare with educational and motivational activities from children ages 0-15, contributing to their well-being while preventing child labor during the coffee harvest.

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Nicaragua and Guatemala. Education and health care in rural coffee communities

Founded in 1851, Volcafe is one of the top three coffee merchants sourcing 12% of the world’s export of market. Specialists in worldwide green coffee procurement, we provide beans for 80 billion cups of coffee a year

We founded Volcafe Way in 2014 as a unique global approach to sourcing high-quality coffees sustainably, largely focused on generating sustainable profitability for producers and helping them manage the social and environmental challenges they face.

Donors/Partners:

In this program we cooperate commercially with many roasters. Additionally, we have also partnered with the NGO Fundación Paraguaya to pilot their ground-breaking multi-dimensional poverty index assessment technology, the Poverty Stoplight (Semaforo de Pobreza).

Key activities:

Through Volcafe Way and its 250 agronomists and technicians we:

• provide direct technical assistance to farmers, helping them to continually improve their coffee quality, farm productivity and yields;
• train farmers in sustainable production and good agronomy;
• help producers manage social and environmental challenges and risks, gather data and focus on measurable results that green-buyer customers can monitor and verify;
• create business-model farms: learning hubs in which surrounding communities can exchange best practices

Our focus on farm profitability is at the core of our Theory of Change. Therefore, we focus on:

• Intervention at the farm level;
• Consistent farm profitability;
• Close working relationships between producers and Farmer Support Organization (FSO) teams;
• Business and agronomy advice that’s informed by detailed cost-of-production data derived and analysed on a farm-by-farm basis;
• Connecting producers and roasters in direct, long-term sourcing relationships.

Signature projects/tools:

• Our Volcafe Way experts have developed an app that allows us to capture and analyze all field-related data and track the sustainable profitability ‘progress’ made by our coffee families.
• For information on projects, please check the Volcafe Way website: www.volcafeway.com.

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

Volcafe Way is now active in ten countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America: Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Tanzania and Uganda.