The sustainability landscape in the coffee sector

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

Donors/Partners:

The Alliance’s research is made possible by the multi-donor CGIAR Fund as well as by grants from many organizations, some of which are also Fund donors. The complete list is available here: https://ciat.cgiar.org/our-donors/

Key activities:

CIAT develops tools and information products to support development projects. For coffee, they have extensive work on sustainable business models, climate change adaptation and mitigation, water efficiency, climate services, deforestation monitoring etc.

The Alliance’s activities aim at diagnosing and mitigating vulnerabilities in the supply chain to ensure continuity and sustainability of the supply despite challenges like climate change and competing land uses, based on acceptable business cases for sustainable agricultural practices according to the context of the farm and farmer characteristics. Awareness of risks, returns and uncertainties from the smallholder perspective enables supply chain improvements that are sustainable and create impact, with the objective of enabling transparent and innovative supply chains able to take evidence-driven sustainability actions with technological advances in R&D.

Signature projects/tools:

• Climate Smart Coffee (https://climatesmartcoffee.csa.guide/)
• Coffee & Cocoa Portfolio (https://ciat.cgiar.org/ciat-coffee-cocoa-portfolio/)
• https://aclimatar.org/

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities:

Colombia: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Business development

Honduras: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Business development

Indonesia: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration

Kenya: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Business development

Vietnam: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Business development

CIRAD’s research is aimed at developing and promoting coffee production standards in line with the principles of sustainable development, that are also economically viable. CIRAD promotes the ecological functions of coffee-based agroforestry systems, fosters ecological intensification through integrated pest management, develops resistant varieties with a broader range of sensorial qualities, and manages the resources and ecological services rendered by agroforestry systems. CIRAD also assesses the impact of labels (organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance) on how export supply chains are organized in producing countries, as well as the impact of product diversification on how agroforestry systems function, and on coffee producers’ incomes.

Donors/Partners

CIRAD has the EU (H2020), ANR, Agropolis, Nestlé, Suntory and ECOM as donors.

Key activities

CIRAD’s activities focus on biodiversity and exploitation of genetic resources, through genetic resource management, varietal creation, breeding, molecular and cellular biology, physiology, seeds and reproduction systems. They also strive to optimize the production thanks to insect, weed and disease control, cropping practices and fertilization, production mechanization, rural development, fermentation and coffee promotion.

CIRAD does computer, mathematical and statistical modelling of coffee trees to integrate carbon balance and coffee growing into national development operations. They also develop sustainable disease resistance management strategies by identifying fungal pathogens, resistance sources, resistant varieties, and by analysing disease development in the field and fungal constraints in crop cycles.

Signature projects/tools

Project BREEDCAFS / BREEDing Coffee for AgroForestry System (https://www.breedcafs.eu/)

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities:

Cameroon: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration

Costa Rica: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Sourcing policies – Renovation – Standards/certification

Mexico: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Sourcing policies – Renovation – Standards/certification

Nicaragua: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Sourcing policies – Renovation – Standards/certificationVietnam: Climate change – Forest conservation & restoration – Sourcing policies – Renovation – Standards/certification

Wageningen University & Research’s mission is to explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life.

The strength of WUR lies in its ability to join the forces of specialised research institutes and the university. It also lies in the combined efforts of the various fields of natural and social sciences. This union of expertise leads to scientific breakthroughs that can quickly be put into practice and be incorporated into education. This is the Wageningen Approach.

The scientific quality of WUR is affirmed by the prominent position they occupy in international rankings and citation indexes. The domain of WUR consists of three related core areas: food and food production, living environment, as well as health, lifestyle and livelihood.

Donors/Partners

Wageningen University & Research has a broad spectrum of partners, including governments, international institutions, non-governmental Institutions, farmer organisations, the private sector (such as coffee traders, roasters and retailers, the financial sector. WUR also participates in international research collaborations (e.g. CGIAR, The Sustainability Consortium).

Key activities

Regarding the coffee value chain, WUR executes research on social cost/benefits, food safety, seeds/pest pressure/IPM, valorization of by-products, impact evaluations on farm level interventions (incl. livelihood conditions), coffee (bean) quality & traceability, local pollution, water management, future studies, coffee market, chain developments and consumer preferences. The research relies on high-quality market and chain knowledge, a wide and international knowledge network, and unique data and models from the micro to the macro level. On these topics, WUR can provide a multi-disciplinary team on (socio-)economic, plant, environmental and food technology research.

To achieve sustainable improvements in coffee, WUR believes in an integrated approach that considers the environmental, social, economic, technical and institutional perspectives to deal with the complex local and international supply chains and surrounding areas.

Signature projects/tools

• The future of coffee and cocoa agroforestry in a warmer Mesoamerica (https://www.wur.nl/en/newsarticle/New-paper-Why-climate-change-means-a-rethink-of-coffee-and-cocoa-production-systems..htm)
• CocoaSoils program about improved soil fertility management recommendations (https://cocoasoils.org/)
• Implementation of an Integrated Water Management System towards a Climate Intelligent Coffee Sector in Colombia (https://magazines.wur.nl/climate-solutions-en/manos-agua/)
• Integral Analysis of the Coffee Value Chain in Honduras (https://edepot.wur.nl/450336)
• The Ambivalent Impact of Coffee Certification on Farmers’ Welfare: A Matched Panel Approach for Cooperatives in Central Kenya (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002028)
• Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Coffee Farms in Vietnam: A Social Profit Inefficiency Approach (https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/4227)
• Improving sustainability in coffee and cocoa (https://www.wur.nl/en/project/Improving-sustainability-in-coffee-and-cocoa.htm)

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Brazil: Climate change

Colombia: Climate change – Water conservation

Ethiopia: Labour conditions – Sourcing policies

Honduras: Labour conditions – Access to inputs – Access to finance – Producer country policy – Standards/certification

Vietnam: Labour conditions – Producer country policy

World Coffee Research’s mission is to grow, protect and enhance supplies of quality coffee while improving the livelihoods of the families who produce it. WCR drives continual scientific innovation through applied agricultural research in genetics and agronomy to produce climate-smart, profitable technologies for farmers to sustain global demands for coffee. 

WCR drives a farmer-focused agricultural research and development agenda that advances three interconnected objectives: (1) enhancing the profitability of climate-resilient coffee production to support farmer economic sustainability; (2) improving the quality potential of coffee trees to ensure a diverse range of qualities is available to the market (from commercial to premium to specialty, encompassing both arabica and robusta); (3) mitigating supply chain risk to suppliers and roasters by enhancing the competitiveness of strategically selected countries from the Americas, East Africa and Asia.

Donors/Partners

World Coffee Research works in collaboration with a global network of coffee research institutions that includes national coffee research institutes, universities, consortia, public agencies, and laboratories, including private company research departments. WCR’s work is supported by over 200 member companies from around the world, which provide vital funding and help drive the research agenda.  These include Caravela, Dunkin’, illycaffè, Intelligentsia Coffee, JDE, JM Smuckers, Keurig Dr. Pepper, KEY Coffee, La Marzocco, Lavazza, Mercon, JDE Peets, PROBAT, Starbucks, Taylors of Harrogate, and many more. A full list of WCR members and partners is available at https://worldcoffeeresearch.org/about.

Key activities

World Coffee Research works collaboratively to develop agricultural technologies that can increase productivity, farmer profitability, and quality. WCR acts as a bridge between industry market demand and national research programs to bring tools and approaches with proven track records in other crops to accelerate progress in coffee research. WCR addresses significant bottlenecks in agricultural innovation—for example, focusing not just on modernizing global coffee breeding approaches, but also on advocacy and strategic engagement to ensure that countries have the infrastructure needed to get new varieties into the hands of farmers.  Key activities include regional breeding hubs; farmer field trials; nursery and seed sector development; and tool and knowledge-product generation.

Signature projects/tools

• International Multilocation Variety Trial (https://worldcoffeeresearch.org/work/international-multilocation-variety-trial/)
• Regional breeding hubs (https://worldcoffeeresearch.org/work/breeding-future/)
• Nursery development (https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/info/verified/about)
• Arabica Coffee Varieties catalog (https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/)
• Good Practice Guides for seed producers and nurseries (https://worldcoffeeresearch.org/work/good-practice-guides-gu%C3%AD-de-buenas-practicas/)
• WCR Sensory Lexicon (https://worldcoffeeresearch.org/work/sensory-lexicon/)

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Globally and regionally, WCR partners with advanced research institutes from anywhere in the world to address shared, relevant, upstream challenges, and strengthens global communities of practice, including via regional breeding hubs. WCR also works more deeply within select, strategic geographies to enhance the competitiveness of their coffee sectors through agricultural R&D upgrades. Engagement in focus countries is oriented around agricultural research (e.g., breeding, agronomy), along with nursery sector development. Research results may “feed” other pathways, such as technical assistance and access to inputs.

Uganda: Climate – Renovation – Producer country policy

Ethiopia: Climate – Renovation – Producer country policy

Peru: Climate – Renovation – Producer country policy

Indonesia: Climate – Renovation – Producer country policy

Honduras: Climate – Renovation – Producer country policy