The Netherlands-based Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) has announced the launch of a four-year program that intends to help build a regenerative and verifiable coffee value chain.
Unveiled at a sustainable coffee roundtable in Hanoi, Vietnam on Aug. 11, the Resilient Coffee Program (RCP) “creates a new pre-competitive investment platform, enabling companies, governments and partners to co-invest in the long-term resilience of coffee value chains,” according to an IDH statement.
The RCP is a multi-country initiative, developed alongside growers, partners and companies. Its current focus is on Vietnam, Uganda, Colombia and India, with an intended target of generating around 500,000 tonnes of regenerative coffee annually. What’s more, the program hopes to reach 300,000 farmers by the end of 2030.
During the RCP announcement, Daan Wensing, CEO of IDH, said: “A resilient coffee sector cannot be built by any one company, or any one country, alone. Climate pressure, shifting market expectations and the need to support farmers all call for a different approach – one built on collaboration and shared investment. That is what the Resilient Coffee Program offers: an open, pre-competitive platform where roasters, traders and governments can co-invest in resilient coffee value chains, together.”
Vietnam will be the first country to launch, with ALDI SÜD Group joining as the initial front-runner investor. The announcement went on to say that, “the Resilient Coffee Program is open to additional roasters, traders, governments and financing partners seeking to strengthen resilient coffee value chains through shared investment in Vietnam and across the program’s four coffee origins.”
Over the next four years, RCP will attempt to reach up to 75,000 Vietnamese coffee farmers, a number representing roughly 10 percent of the country’s coffee-growing households, covering 10 percent of its coffee area. A key aspect of the program will be the adoption of regenerative practices, as defined by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform’s Regenerating Together Framework, resulting in a reduction of around 240,000 tonnes of C02 emissions as well as a 15 percent increase in farmer incomes.
According to IDH, participating companies will use a shared system for “measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), traceability and co-claiming.” This will enable companies to measure, verify and report progress.
The announcement comes at a time when Vietnam’s coffee sector is attempting to navigate challenges associated with weather instability and price volatility. The world’s second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam is currently in the process of moving away from unsustainable farming practices. As Pham Ngoc Mau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Vietnam put it during the announcement, “coffee is one of Vietnam’s most important agricultural sectors, and its future depends on becoming more sustainable and more resilient.”
Coffee giant, JDE Peets attended the roundtable, although it is uncertain whether the company has invested in the program. According to JDE Peet’s Sustainability Manager for Asia-Pacific, Sy Do, said the company was happy to take part and that, “we support the direction the Resilient Coffee Program is setting and look forward to exploring how we can contribute.”