[WLRC Bonga, March 2025] – Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC), in collaboration with Ethiopian Forestry Development (EFD), conducted a training workshop on the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) for improving coffee traceability systems. The event took place at Bonga Teachers Education College, March 27-29, 2025, as part of the project titled Traceability Systems and Landscape Approaches for Sustainable Coffee Trade: Capturing and Reclaiming Value in the Global South (CARE for Value and Sustainability). The training aimed to build the capacity of agricultural and coffee experts, as well as extension workers from Decha Woreda and Kaffa Zone, in using GIS and GPS technologies.
The workshop sought to equip the participants with tools to enhance coffee traceability and ensure compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Dr. Yigardu Mulatu from Ethiopian Forestry Development (EFD), in her opening speech, emphasized the importance of technology-assisted data analytics for tracking coffee production from farm to cup. She highlighted the CARE project’s commitment to promoting deforestation-free supply chains through integrated traceability and landscape approaches. “Nowadays, automated systems play a crucial role in making traceability more efficient and manageable through advanced technologies,” Dr. Yigardu noted. She encouraged participants to actively engage in the training, underscoring how improved traceability can enhance coffee quality, marketability, and improve the livelihoods of farmers, cooperatives, and unions.
The three-day workshop was led by Dr. Hailu Shiferaw and Alexander Girma from WLRC, along with Dr. Yigardu Mulatu from EFD. The training included both theoretical and practical sessions, covering GIS and GPS applications in data capturing and analysis using specialized equipment and smartphones. Participants also gained hands-on experience in using GPS devices and mobile apps for data analytics.
More than 20 trainees attended the workshop. The trainees were drawn from the Kaffa Zone Office of Agriculture and Land Administration, Decha Woreda Office of Agriculture, the Land Administration Office, and the Natural Resource Management sector.
The CARE for Value and Sustainability project is a three-year initiative (2024–2027) funded by the Swiss Development and Cooperation through its Solution-Oriented Research for Development (SOR4D) Programme. The project is implemented by a consortium that includes WLRC, the Center for Development and Environment at the University of Bern (CDE), Ethiopian Forestry Development (EFD), and the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA).