International non-governmental organisation Rainforest Alliance has published its 2024 Annual Report, highlighting the progress its certification program has made in regenerative agriculture.
The report reveals Rainforest Alliance supports 1.8 million coffee farmers and workers across 1.9 million hectares in 29 countries, and outlines how regenerative agriculture has helped to restore nature in critical areas and strengthen rural communities.
The organisation is one of the world’s largest farm-to-consumer certification programs. Products with the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal are available in 155 countries. According to the report, that equates to 333 million cups of coffee and 96 million bars of chocolate every day.
“Tropical forests are still falling at an alarming rate—10 football fields a minute—and the climate crisis is accelerating, pushing our world toward a dangerous tipping point and driving unprecedented biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, many farming and forest communities still struggle daily to meet basic needs,” says Santiago Gowland, CEO of Rainforest Alliance.
“Now is the time to transition to a new model of agriculture – one where every cup of coffee and every bar of chocolate gives back more than it takes from the land and the people who care for it.”
Through its certification system, Rainforest Alliance aims to address global challenges, including to help regulate global climate, support freshwater systems, and maintain countless natural processes essential for planetary health.
It hopes to achieve its sustainability goals by creating regenerative practices that restore ecosystems, enable local communities to thrive, and build climate resilience. The evolution of the organisation, according to the Alliance, is driven by farmers who understand the land and the change it can bring.
Coffee farmer Christine Karimi from Mount Kenya highlighted how one of the organisation’s programs helped her agricultural practices.
“As a Rainforest Alliance Certified farmer, producing good quality coffee has helped me secure premium prices at auction,” says Karimi.
As well as supporting the coffee industry, the organisation also aides the cocoa industry, with more than 3 million cocoa farmers and workers across 4.6 million hectares in 23 countries.
Read the full report here.
