Wageningen University & Research (WUR)

30/09/2020

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

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