Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — WLRC (representing the consortium of the project) presented the progress and key results of the: “Traceability Systems and Landscape Approaches for Sustainable Coffee Trade: Capturing and Reclaiming Value in the Global South” (CARE for Value and Sustainability) project at the roundtable discussion organized by the Swiss Embassy and hosted the Embassy’s residence in Addis Ababa, 18 July, 2025.
The CARE Project is spearheaded by a consortium comprising the Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC), the University of Bern, the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA), and Ethiopian Forest Development (EFD). The Project aims to strengthen coffee value chains by promoting ecological sustainability, socio-cultural inclusion, and economic resilience in Ethiopia and other producing countries.
Held at the Swiss Residence, the session featured a presentation by Dr. Gete Zeleke and the CARE Project team, who shared updates on the CARE Project progress and preliminary findings. It was noted that the initiative is particularly timely as Ethiopia prepares to meet international market expectations, especially the new European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
During the forum, WLRC presented the project update and key findings of the CARE Project:
- Coffee Value Chain Assessment: Focused on Decha Woreda (Kafa Zone) and Yirgachefe Woreda (Gedeo Zone),
- Geospatial Mapping and Analysis, including land use and land cover (LULC) changes of forest and coffee maps for the two zones,
- Digital Coffee Traceability Systems, namely:
- Geolocation and registration of coffee producers and their farm plots;
- Tracking coffee movements through farmers, collectors, cooperatives, and processors;
- Mobile-based field data collection tools, synch with the WebApp,
- Real-time deforestation monitoring and spatial analysis to support compliance to EUDR standards and requirements.
The roundtable brought together more than 35 participants from a wide range of sectors, including government institutions (ECTA, EFD), development partners (UNDP, African Union, SDC), heads or members of diplomatic missions (including the Ambassador of Mexico and delegates from the French and Dutch Embassies), NGOs, and private sector actors in the coffee industry.
The event underscored the critical importance of collaborative, data-driven, and technology-enabled approaches to ensure the sustainability and global competitiveness of Ethiopia’s coffee sector.