Fairtrade International and coffee&climate (c&c) have announced a new collaboration to assist smallholder coffee farmers to build resilience to climate change while developing new approaches to sustainable agriculture.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by Fairtrade International Director of Programs & Policy and Director Standards Andreas Kratz, and Managing Director of c&c coordinator Hanns. R. Neumann Stiftung, Michael Opitz.
The partnership will run until December 2026 and will see the two organisations collaborate on the c&c toolbox, a web app that provides coffee farmers with practical solutions to enhance the climate resilience of coffee production systems, foster biodiversity, promote reforestation, along with improving the food security of farming communities.
Fairtrade’s collaboration on the project will focus on expanding the app to additional coffee producing countries in Latin America and East Africa. The target is to reach at least 10,000 new farmers.
Kratz says Fairtrade will continue to seek to explore initiatives that improve sustainability in the coffee industry.
“Fairtrade has found in the initiative for coffee&climate a fantastic partner who shares our mission of promoting sustainable agriculture while using the latest technologies and tools,” he says.
“We look forward to working together and identifying, evaluating and sharing our best practices.”
coffee&climate was established in 2010 and has been working in seven regions worldwide since its foundation.
It says more than 139,000 coffee farming households have been trained in climate-smart techniques by the organisation to date, which is a pre-competitive initiative supported by a range of global coffee companies, public donor organisations, smallholder communities, and research organisations.
Opitz says a reinvigorated c&c toolbox could prove an invaluable tool for those looking to improve coffee farming practices.
“The initiative for coffee&climate is very pleased to be collaborating with Fairtrade to offer practical solutions for climate-smart coffee cultivation to smallholder farmers worldwide,” he says.
“With the c&c toolbox, both farmers and trainers can profit from an open-source knowledge hub with approved farming practices that help tackle the challenges of climate change.”
