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Coffee roasting conglomerate JDE Peet’s and the nonprofit TechnoServe announced the launch of a wide-ranging new sustainability initiative focused on the Central American coffee sector called Avanza Café.
The initiative, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food for Progress Program, is being funded through a $15.3 million investment. The exact terms of the investment were not announced, although the Avanza project will build upon the USDA’s Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) project, which is led by TechnoServe.
According to an announcement from TechnoServe, the initiative will focus on “regenerative agriculture techniques” and coffee farm productivity in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
In that announcement, JDE Peet’s sustainability manager for Latin America Gina Canales said the Avanza Café initiative will align with the company’s existing in-house sustainability scheme called Common Grounds.
“We are very well positioned to reach more coffee producers and to support them in adopting regenerative practices,” Canales said. “This will help to develop more sustainable and profitable coffee-growing communities.”
Milestones outlined in the initiative include training more than 35,000 small producers in regenerative agriculture practices while also increasing yields by 25%, reducing carbon emissions and increasing household incomes by an average of 25%.
Avanza Café will train more than 35,000 small producers in regenerative agricultural practices, with the goal of increasing yields per hectare by 25%, reducing carbon emissions per metric ton of green coffee produced, and increasing household incomes by an average of 25%.
“Central American coffee farmers have experienced the effects of climate change for many years,” TechnoServe’s MOCCA project director Ryan Bathrick said. “Phenomena like El Niño and La Niña generate significant losses, making the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices more urgent than ever. We appreciate the trust that USDA and JDE Peet’s are placing in TechnoServe to make a positive impact on the lives of farmers in the region.”
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