Our ARABICA Project Has Launched: Promoting Sustainable Coffee Value Chains Brazil is the leading global coffee producer, supplying about one third of the world’s coffee. The coffee industry is a strong pillar of the country’s economy, but comes at the cost of water pollution, habitat destruction, and topsoil erosion – to name a few. Socio-economic issues such as low wages and inequalities affecting coffee farmers only add to the challenge. In our new project, ARABICA, we will focus on addressing these pressing sustainability issues related to coffee production in Brazil. Funded under the European Union AL-INVEST scheme, the project stands for promoting sustainability, equity and transparency in the Brazilian coffee value chain. In cooperation with the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) and the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), the CSCP aims to support key Brazilian actors to develop solutions toward sustainable and deforestation-free coffee value chains. Thereby, the project is based on the principles of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) to ensure that coffee production in Brazil is compliant with EU regulation and eligible for the European market. The EU Deforestation Regulation requires that all coffee entering the EU should be tracked back to the exact plot of land where it originates from. Moreover, the new regulation obliges producers to provide data about their products and follow strict due diligence standards. For smallholder farmers it will be particularly challenging to provide this level of traceability and data due to awareness and knowledge gaps, scarce resources, and lack of technological equipment. Emerging collaborative formats and support mechanisms are meant to address these challenges and offer revenues through which smallholder farmers can raise their capacities and be ready to meet the new regulatory demands. In this light, our ARABICA project has a strong focus on local engagement, particularly on smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) led by youth and women. The project will design capacity building activities based on the best deforestation-free practices and promising technology solutions and how to implement them in the local context. The following activities will be the core work of the ARABICA project, implemented by the CSCP and the project partners: Training on deforestation-free good practices and digital solutions for smallholder farmers and women-led enterprises Awareness-raising activities on the EUDR and its implications The development of a “Collective Commitment on Sustainable Practices” or a “Voluntary Code of Practice” Facilitation of open dialogue and collaborative decision-making on sustainable deforestation free practices among key stakeholders in the coffee value chain Matchmaking between off-takers and sustainability-focused coffee markets: stakeholders from the project will be matched with potential coffee buyers and retailers These activities will support Brazilian coffee producers become compliant with the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which obliges importers to prove that their products are not sourced from deforested land and do not contribute to nature degradation. The project will run until November 2025 and represents a significant step forward in ensuring that Brazilian coffee remains a viable and ethical choice for consumers, especially in the European market, where compliance with the EUDR is mandatory. For further information, please contact Cristina Fedato. Photo: Unsplash Rodrigo Flores