As we enter 2024, we find our purchase planning clouded by uncertainty and doubt. As you may know, the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires companies trading coffee and other commodities such as livestock, cocoa, oil palm, rubber, soy and timber, as well as products derived from these, to carry out extensive due diligence in the value chain to ensure that the goods are not the result of recent deforestation, forest degradation or violations of local environmental laws. European importing companies will need to prepare for the new obligations that will apply from 30 December 2024.
From the importer's perspective, the EUDR will require companies to digitally map their supply chains back to the farms where the coffee was grown, which could involve tracking thousands of small farms in remote regions. This is obviously impossible to do, because importers do not directly visit all the smallholders we work with and rely in part on data provided by local exporters, some of whom also do not deal directly with coffee farmers.
From the coffee farmer's perspective, in some developing countries such as Kenya or Ethiopia, irregular internet coverage makes mapping difficult, while local experts say that disputes over land rights, weak legal structure and inter-tribal conflicts can make it even more difficult to carry out. Most African smallholder coffee farmers are illiterate and have never heard of the EUDR, and even large, educated and well-resourced producers would find it difficult to collect data that has so far remained unspecified.
As a result of this uncertainty, some European importers are looking for new horizons in Brazil or Colombia, where compliance with these new regulations and digital mapping is easier and less costly. In our opinion, the objective of the law is noble, but it lacks a sense of historical and socio-economic reality of the origin, which makes it an unjust regulation that increases inequality and barriers for small coffee farmers to access important markets.
Despite the above, we will remain committed to our mission to connect you with memorable African coffees produced by smallholder farmers' cooperatives. We will be reporting throughout the year on how the implementation of this new regulation develops.
As a result of this uncertainty, some European importers are looking for new horizons in Brazil or Colombia, where compliance with these new regulations and digital mapping is easier and less costly. In our opinion, the objective of the law is noble, but it lacks a sense of historical and socio-economic reality of the origin, which makes it an unjust regulation that increases inequality and barriers for small coffee farmers to access important markets.
Despite the above, we will remain committed to our mission to connect you with memorable African coffees produced by smallholder farmers' cooperatives. We will be reporting throughout the year on how the implementation of this new regulation develops.
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