Working towards climate friendly coffee production in Tanzania

4C partners with JDE Peet’s and DEG to reduce GHG emissions and strengthen climate resilience of smallholder producers

4C Services and JDE Peet’s are proud to announce the start of a joint project on “Reducing GHG emissions and increasing yields from Robusta coffee production by 7,000 smallholder farmers and processors in Tanzania”, co-financed by DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH – with funds of the develoPPP.de program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), together with funds of JDE Peet’s and 4C Services GmbH.

The project was successfully launched on 09 August 2021. Its main objective is to reduce GHG emissions from Robusta coffee production by smallholder farmers and processors in Tanzania within the JDE Peet’s supply chain by measuring and assessing the carbon footprint of coffee production, implementing mitigation strategies, supporting market uptake of climate friendly coffee and with this, creating positive socio-environmental benefits for the farmers and local communities of the coffee sector in Tanzania and beyond.

Environmental impact of coffee production in Tanzania and how it is addressed by the project

Coffee production has an impact on GHG emissions due to land use change/deforestation, non-regenerative soils which lack the potential to sequester carbon and poor agricultural and processing practices. Coffee cultivation accounts for approx. 90% of the product carbon footprint of roasted coffee. To successfully tackle these challenges, it is crucial to first get an in-depth insight of the drivers of GHG emissions in Robusta coffee production in the region, to then find adequate solutions for reducing these emissions on farm level and throughout the entire supply chain.

In cooperation with the implementing partners Touton S.A. and Karagwe District Cooperative Union (KDCU Ltd.) the project will quantify the carbon footprint of green coffee bean production in the Kagera region in Tanzania and identify potential reduction measures. Such measures will be implemented through the training of master trainers and the set-up of demonstration plots. The measures will be further integrated into the 4C Climate Friendly Coffee Add-on which will also be piloted with the farmers in the region. This will create market opportunities, support farmers in their efforts towards climate change mitigation and adaptation and at the same time facilitate coffee companies to work towards their climate neutrality goals.

“We are very happy to partner with 4C Services, DEG, Touton S.A and KDCU supporting over 7,000 smallholder farmers in Kagera, Tanzania to reduce GHG emissions through sustainable and climate friendly agricultural and processing practices. Tanzania is an important coffee origin that is critical towards safeguarding the rich diversity of coffee.” – Nadia Hoarau-Mwaura, Sustainability Director at JDE Peet’s

“We are very excited that together with our supply chain partners 4C will take action to measure GHG emissions in Robusta coffee production in Tanzania and support 7,000 farmers in the implementation of reduction measures.” – Dr. Norbert Schmitz, 4C Managing Director. “Through this common effort, we want to take the next step to assessing the carbon footprint and making climate friendly coffee supply chains a reality.”