By Anil Gupta, Global Affairs Canada, and Paul Stewart, TechnoServe

1. Coffee, Climate Resilience in
Ethiopia:
(early stages) Case Study
June 22, 2023
By
Anil Gupta (Senior Environment Specialist, GAC)
Paul Stewart (Global Coffee Director, Technoserve)
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2. Overview
1. Climate Rationale
a) Why Ethiopia?
b) Why Coffee?
2. Project Design
a) Key Design Considerations
b) Selection of Partner Organization
3. NbCSolutions – Paul
4. Biodiversity Coding
5. Discussion
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3. Climate Rationale - Country
• Ethiopia one of most climate vulnerable countries in world (e.g.
Maplecroft)
• Current: Increased warming, high inter-annual and intra-seasonal rainfall variability
• Future: models predict that temperatures increase significantly (1.1 to 3.1C by 2060s);
greater extremes in precipitation
• Ethiopia world leader in climate ambition GHG reductions/ avoidance
(e.g. Climate Action Tracker)
• Paris NDC: Net Zero by 2025; 64% reductions by 2030 compared to BAU
• Potential powerful African model (pop doubling; South Africa alternative)
Led to 2019-20 Scoping Study to identify mitigation & adaptation
Options
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4. Climate Rationale – Agriculture/ Coffee
• Most country uses rain-fed agriculture
• 90% agricultural output produced by small scale farmers
• Arabica Coffee
• Goldilocks crop
• ¼ population derives their livelihoods (production, processing, marketing); 1/3rd of
total export earnings
• 2M small holders (1-2 Ha land) directly affected by climate variability, many women
& girls
• Huge cultural importance
• Ethiopian “Coffee and Tea Development Strategy” (2020) – rapid increase
• Areas climatically suitable for wild coffee production could be reduced by 40% - 90%
beyond 2040
• Kew Gardens: Coffee Atlas of Ethiopia (2018) – identifies these areas, including
where high maladaptation risk
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5. Project Design ($15M)
Climate & Value Chain
1. Supply: Local production
• Climate: conserving soil moisture (decreased rainfall); increased shade cover (temperature);
more climate resilient coffee strains; advanced tree pruning (but additionality?)
• Women coffee farmers
• Expansion – risk of maladaptation
2. Coffee Processing
• Climate: reduce water consumption (decreased water availability) - reduce mill effluent
pollution (increase availability of clean water for agriculture etc) through constructed
wetlands; water-efficient machinery and eco-pulpers
• Women led cooperatives/ mills
3. Demand: Eco-certification
• Branding e.g. “climate strong and genetically diverse”; performance based (not just process
based)
• Price premium
• Replicability by Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture Coffee & Tea Authority
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6. Design – Partner Selection
TechnoServe’s coffee and climate technical expertise, policy experience, and project
experience:
• Coffee and climate expertise. TechnoServe Ethiopia recommended to the Scoping Team
by IFC and Kew Gardens (authors of international peer reviewed journal articles on
coffee and climate change in Ethiopia).
• GoE policy experience. TechnoServe Ethiopia has provided extensive technical support to
the Ministry of Agriculture’s Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) in the development of its
2020 National Coffee and Tea Strategy.
• Project Track Record:
• Harvard University’s Kennedy School has conducted a highly positive assessment of TechnoServe’s
East Africa coffee work.
• Funding and implementation experience. TechnoServe has received coffee funding for Ethiopia/
East Africa that includes Gates Foundation ($47M), Nespresso, IFC, and the US Department of
Agriculture.
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7. • Overflow into river impacts human and animal health
• Hazardous for workers and children
• Pulp wasted, could be composted
| 7
The Problem
2 billion liters of coffee
processing waste water
produced annually in Sidamo
Ethiopia

8. One Year Later
Separate the
pulp Compost the
pulp
Vetiver
treatment
Reduce water intake long-term | 8

9. 9
Over 10 years, the installation of over 100 Vetiver wetlands
has improved river water quality
Kola River
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X Number of wetlands
established annually on
river and its tributaries
Giddabo River
Difference between pre-season and peak-season water quality
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), mg/l

10. 10
Kola
Giddabo
Difference between pre-season and peak-season water quality
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), mg/l
6
5 2 1
5
9 6
X Number of wetlands
established annually on
river and its tributaries
Over 10 years, the installation of over 100 Vetiver wetlands
has improved river water quality

11. 11
Over one million indigenous shade trees planted on
28,000 smallholder coffee farms in Sidamo
“The Nespresso program brought a
trainer to my village and taught me
that coffee trees have a shorter
lifespan when grown under full sun
and reduce the coffee yields. That is
why I loved to plant trees in my farm,
as it in turn leads me to live a
comfortable life.”
Birtikuan Debeko
Aleta Wondo, Sidamo, Ethiopia
Albizia shade tree

12. Biodiversity Coding
• Requires a “Significant” marker coding
• Generally: 1 Intermediate Outcome, corresponding biodiversity indicators,
30% budget, biodiversity technical capacity
• GAC Assessment:
• Not enough focus on biodiversity results/ indicators
• e.g. fish counts after improved river quality
• E.g. bird counts after shade trees grown
• No evidence of biodiversity expertise (after discussions with Technoserve)
• Not enough biodiversity budget allocation
• Conclusion: Biodiversity integrated but not Significant
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13. STAY TUNED!
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