Progress on Coffee’s Sustainable Transition
Swiss summit spotlights advances made and the challenges remaining.
This week’s ‘Geneva Dialogues’, hosted by the International Trade Centre, discussed the sustainable transformation of the coffee industry. Attendees including leaders, policymakers and experts brainstormed strategies to enhance sustainable production. Successful efforts and innovative solutions were showcased to help inform how the sector can deliver greater equity and key green goals. Read on for more about the event, and to find out how sustainable your morning brew is…
⭐ What success stories and learnings were platformed?
Youth Engagement in Cameroon: Cameroon’s Next Generation initiative showcased successful youth involvement in coffee production, emphasizing the role of young people in driving sustainable practices. Supported by ITC and the European Union, this program highlights the potential for youth to lead the coffee sector’s sustainable transformation.
Circular Economy Efforts: Mario Cerutti from Lavazza Group highlighted their integration of circular economy principles within the coffee sector. This approach, coupled with compliance to new regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation, serves as a model for other industry stakeholders to enhance sustainability.
Ethiopian Knowledge Sharing: The translation of the Coffee Guide into Amharic is already benefiting Ethiopian coffee growers, facilitating better understanding of sustainability practices and market opportunities. This initiative underscores the importance of accessible information for producers at origin.
ITC’s Global Impact: ITC’s extensive support to around 15,000 coffee businesses and hundreds of thousands of farmers through partnerships showcases their significant role in promoting sustainable practices globally. Their projects span over 25 countries, reflecting a broad impact on the coffee sector.
❗What challenges do they see to coffee’s sustainability?
Regulatory Compliance Costs: Implementing new EU sustainability regulations poses significant costs, potentially disadvantaging producers in developing countries. Ensuring these costs don’t undermine competitiveness is a key concern raised during the dialogues.
Information Gaps: There is an urgent need to fill knowledge and information gaps at the origin level. Producers and processors must understand the financial benefits of sustainability practices to drive broader adoption and compliance.
Financial Access for Producers: Limited access to finance for improved due diligence and sustainability measures remains a significant hurdle. This financial barrier prevents many smallholders from implementing necessary changes to meet new regulatory standards.
Collaboration and Coordination: Effective implementation of sustainability measures requires strong coordination and partnerships across the value chain. The dialogues emphasized the need for collaborative efforts to ensure all stakeholders can meet sustainability targets.
💚 How sustainable is the coffee industry today?
Environmental Impact: The coffee industry continues to struggle with sustainability, as many coffee farms contribute to deforestation and biodiversity loss. For example, it's estimated that around 2.5 million acres of forest in Central America have been converted to coffee plantations, exacerbating environmental degradation.
Growing Awareness and Action: Awareness of sustainability issues in the coffee sector is increasing, with many stakeholders recognizing the importance of sustainable practices. However, translating this awareness into action remains uneven across the industry.
Regulatory Pressures: New regulations, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, are pushing the industry towards greater accountability. These regulations aim to enforce environmental and social standards, though full compliance is still a work in progress.
Voluntary Guidelines and Adoption: While voluntary sustainability guidelines exist, only 16% of companies globally are actively addressing human rights and environmental concerns in their supply chains. This highlights a gap between available guidelines and their adoption.
This is a long time coming for the world to direct attention to some of the insights that you’ve so accurately highlighted, especially when it comes to coffee sustainability. I appreciate you bringing this up.