Header
SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE OF COFFEE
Coffee's volatile environment
Coffee is a commodity that is traded on the stock exchange and its price changes daily and can be driven up or down depending on supply and demand. Due to coffee market price volatility and increasing extreme weather, many coffee farmers are exposed to unacceptable levels of uncertainty and risk making it difficult to plan their finances and invest for the future. This is also driving younger generations away from the coffee business.
Building resilience hand-in-hand
For almost 20 years we have been helping farmers build sustainable livelihoods through our Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program™. Today, we work with more than 120 000 farmers in 15 coffee producing countries and offer them the possibility to voluntarily join our social and environmental sustainability programs that aim to make coffee farming more resilient.
Growing a brighter future
In our quest to empower farmers to plan for their futures we have designed, along with Fairtrade International and the Colombian government, a retirement savings scheme that enables farmers in Colombia Caldas to actively plan for their retirement . A first of its kind in the coffee industry that has seen 2,045 AAA farmers enroll and is incentivizing the generational transfer of farms from parents to their children.
Cultivating equality
Women play a crucial role in coffee production and yet benefit from fewer resources than men do, such as land, credit and information. To help fill the gender gap, we have designed a gender analysis tool to measure the level of gender equality within the AAA Program coffee supply chain but also to provide actionable insights. Training agronomists to analyze, understand and address gender inequalities has helped increase women’s access to opportunities.
The need to grow resilience
Today, climate change is affecting the environment, the soil, and the long-term sustainability of coffee farms. This risk has created the need to transition towards more natural ways of farming to help coffee farmers reduce their environmental impact, make farms healthier and more resilient to climate change.
Encouraging more nature-based practices
The longstanding relationship we have built with smallholder coffee farmers through the AAA Sustainable Quality Program™ has strengthened our vision for the sustainable future of coffee farming. Together with the Rainforest Alliance, we will promote incentivize regenerative farming methods that help protect soil health and biodiversity.
Safeguarding the future of land
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that aims to conserve and restore farmland and its ecosystem. It contributes to drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, it helps improve the resilience of farmland to climate change and can therefore help improve farmers’ livelihoods.
New Sources of Prosperity
Nature-based practices can help to offer alternative sources of income. For example, beyond providing shade for coffee trees and absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere, trees planted as part of our agroforestry program can also be leveraged as a source of income beyond coffee. Through pilot initiatives like selling wood, fruits, or even honey from bees, farmers can have the opportunity to unlock new potential from their land.
A safety net for farmers
Extreme weather patterns can destroy a year’s harvest. Building resilience through regenerative agriculture initiatives such as tree planting can help mitigate this threat. However, to further anticipate these risks, we have worked on a pilot program in Colombia with Blue Marble Micro insurance to set up a harvest insurance program. It is designed to act as a safety net for farmers by protecting them in the event of a poor crop and thereby reducing their vulnerability to the effects of climate change.
