IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative

The overall purpose of IDH is to accelerate sustainability within value chains of various sectors under the IDH strategy 2021-2025: ‘Catalyzing Private Sector Solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ through driving public-private coalitions and viable sustainable business- and finance models to have impact on the SDGs. For this purpose, IDH works with companies, NGOs, governments, trade unions, financial institutions, and universities. The IDH Coffee Program implements this purpose for the coffee sector.

The IDH Coffee Program works on smallholder resilience with a focus on closing living income gaps and creating better income stability, while also increasing climate change resilience and enabling a transition towards regenerative agriculture. The program works at three different levels: 1) through influencing sector governance, 2) through changing business practices and 3) by implementing field level programs. IDH is looking to build coalitions of the willing in order to collaboratively create change at all three levels.

Donors/Partners

IDH has the Dutch, Swiss and Danish governments as institutional donors. The Coffee Program also works with the IKEA Foundation in Uganda and Kenya.

Key activities

IDH works at three different levels – impact at field level, changing business practices and changing sector governance. To function on all three levels, IDH builds coalitions and partnerships at local and global scale to address topics like living income, climate change, farmer resilience and access to finance. Via service delivery models – analysis, implementation and investment – the IDH Coffee Program is setting up long-term innovative models to deliver blended services to farmers in origin. Currently the program is focused on Uganda, Kenya, Colombia and Vietnam.

Signature projects/tools

• Taskforce Coffee Living Income (https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/publication/task-force-for-coffee-living-income-insights-report-colombia/)
• Coffee Farmer Income Resilience Program (https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/news/the-ikea-foundation-and-idh-team-up/)
• Farmer Financing Facility with NKG (https://uganda.nkgbloom.coffee/, https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/news/nkg-bloom-lays-the-foundation-for-living-income-in-coffee/ )
• Field level Projects in Vietnam and Uganda (https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/sectors/coffee/)
• Brewing up climate resilience in the coffee sector (https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/publication/brewing-up-climate-resilience-in-the-coffee-sector/)

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities

Colombia: Living income – Service delivery – Gender – Climate change

Uganda: Living income – (Blended) Service delivery – Gender – Climate change – Regenerative Agriculture

Kenya: Living income – (Blended) Service delivery – Gender – Climate change – Regenerative Agriculture

Vietnam: Climate change – Service delivery – Gender – Living income