Coffee is one of the world’s most consumed beverages and traded commodities, with high consumer interest in sourcing and processing of high-quality coffee. In 2023, 168.2 million bags of coffee were produced in the global coffee market, which is valued at an estimated £104.26 billion and projected to increase to more than £131 billion by 2029. In Africa, production has decreased in recent years, with the production year ending in 2023 being the lowest in the last four years.
In East Africa, the Partnerships for Forests (P4F) programme has used public-private-community partnerships to channel private investment into tropical forests, with a priority placed on supporting smallholders in the coffee sector. This report discusses P4F’s sustainable coffee production projects in Ethiopia and Uganda. It covers challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for improving the efficiency and sustainability of coffee projects.