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Farmers in Africa that produce some of the world\u2019s most prized coffee are in a scramble to comply with new European Union environmental rules that require them to document the origin of every shipment of beans.<\/p>\n
The new measure, coming into force at the end of this year, is designed to prevent deforestation driven by agricultural expansion. To comply, farmers must provide geolocation data to show that their coffee was not grown on land where forests have recently been cut down.<\/p>\n
After Dec. 31, any producers that cannot will lose access to the vast European market.<\/p>\n
Europe consumes more coffee than any country or bloc in the world and experts say the new rule, formally known as the E.U. Deforestation Regulation, is a potentially powerful tool to promote sustainable agriculture and prevent forest destruction.<\/p>\n
But it also represents what some are calling a \u201cgreen squeeze\u201d that imposes heavy burdens on millions of small farmers in developing countries that have contributed the least to climate change, and tests ability of policymakers to balance the needs of people and the needs of nature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOf course data is very important to us, but what we are just saying is we need support,\u201d said Dejene Dadi, head of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. \u201cIt\u2019s very challenging and costly and we don\u2019t have any help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Dadi said his group, the largest coffee growers\u2019 cooperative in Ethiopia, with more than half a million members based in the central part of the country, probably could not prepare all its farms by the deadline without additional support.<\/p>\n
Trainers have traversed the Oromia region for more than a year, collecting coordinates for maps and helping farmers with new technology. As of March, they had mapped 24,000 farms. European officials will verify shipments by cross-checking current geolocation data against base line satellite images and forest cover maps.<\/p>\n
Mr. Dadi said the cost of mapping one farm was about $4.50. The cost of training is partly covered by a grant form the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization that was created to help poor countries expand trade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Ethiopia is the top coffee producer in Africa, and the crop accounts for about 35 percent of the country\u2019s revenue. The arabica variety, smooth and mild with fruity and nutty notes, originated in the country\u2019s southwestern highlands. More than a third of Ethiopia\u2019s coffee goes to Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
According to a French government report last year, E.U. consumption is responsible for 44 percent of coffee-related deforestation<\/a> worldwide. Another report, by the World Resources Institute, an environmental group, found that nearly two million hectares of forest cover had been replaced by coffee plantations<\/a> between 2001 and 2025. Indonesia, Brazil and Peru recorded some of the highest deforestation rates in that period.<\/p>\n Global leaders pledged in 2021 at a climate summit<\/a> in Glasgow to end deforestation by 2030. The agreement underscored a growing awareness of the role of nature in tackling the climate crisis. Intact forests are natural storehouses of planet-warming carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere, where, as carbon dioxide, it speeds warming by trapping the sun\u2019s heat. When forests are cleared, those areas switch to releasing greenhouse gases. It also harms the forest\u2019s biodiversity, its variety of life, by disrupting habitat.<\/p>\n The new E.U. rule also covers cattle, cocoa, palm oil, rubber and other crops. Coffee shipments without proper mapping data can be rejected or confiscated, and the importer can be fined.<\/p>\n But some experts say the measure is being implemented without the necessary support for farmers.<\/p>\n Jodie Keane, an economist at ODI Global, a research organization based in London, said the European Union and major coffee chains should do more to help small farmers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe all want to prevent deforestation,\u201d Ms. Keane said. \u201cBut if you\u2019re going to apply that standard to rural producers, you\u2019re going to have to provide a lot of outreach, sensitization, you\u2019re going to have to invest in learning how to do things differently so that they don\u2019t just get dropped from the supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n Etelle Higonet, founder of Coffee Watch, a monitoring group, echoed that. \u201cThese are some of the richest companies in the world,\u201d she said of European coffee chains. \u201cOf course they could afford to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email, Johannes Dengler, a managing partner at Alois Dallmayr, one of the best-known coffee brands in Germany, acknowledged that the new rule was an \u201cenormous challenge\u201d for Ethiopia. He said Dallmayr was developing systems to assure compliance and was \u201cworking closely with our partners to find viable solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n