Regulations from the European Union (EU) that aim to stop deforestation globally will go into effect in 2025, with a focus on palm oil and soy as the two main risks to tropical forests. Soon, coffee importers will have to use satellite data to demonstrate that their supply chains do not contribute to deforestation, as the Western media reported.
Coffee smallholders in Kaffa, the home of coffee in southern Ethiopia, may reportedly find it difficult to comply with these requirements because of poor internet availability and a deficit of land registers. They might not catch up to European standards for up to five years.
Ethiopia's coffee business is of huge value to the nation, with a significant portion of its exports going to Europe. Therefore, even though less than 5% of Ethiopia's imports come from the EU, the foreign exchange earned from these exports is vital for Addis Ababa, particularly in the fight against inflation.
"We obviously don't want to lose the relationship with this market," Adugna Debela, director of the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, told the French news outlet.
In an effort to boost productivity and raise revenue, the Ethiopian government is under pressure from Brussels to modernize the industry, according to the report. Addis Ababa is looking for international partners to help fund this program.
"The harvests of hundreds of farmers are mixed together during drying, then washing, and again during the various stages of resale and transport. A single container of coffee en route to Europe can contain beans from a thousand producers, which means you'd have to provide a thousand GPS coordinates when it reaches Europe," Peter Horsten, an adviser to AgUnity, a platform helping smallholders in emerging economies, was quoted as saying.
But in order to get financial support, Ethiopia reportedly must show its commitment and implement the required supply chain improvements.
"Even compared with other African players, Ethiopia is lagging behind. It has neither protected nor regulated its supply chain. Is this the Europeans' fault?" an outlet's source within the bloc wondered.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that every year, 10 million hectares of forest disappear globally, with food consumption in Europe playing a major role in this deforestation. According to estimates from the European Parliament, Europe's consumption of soy and palm oil accounts for 10% of the world's deforestation.