How Can I Take Action?
There is more than one area where stakeholders can support R&R - from scaling up existing approaches to laying the foundation for future programs.
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There is more than one area where stakeholders can support R&R - from scaling up existing approaches to laying the foundation for future programs.
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Business as usual will not meet the R&R need. The future must be different & mean more. More investors, more delivery organizations, more studies of what works, more sharing of lessons. Innovations in finance and delivery are also needed to significantly de-risk R&R to the point where it is much more appealing for farmers themselves.
Here are a few ideas of how your organization could get involved to ensure the future of coffee & those who produce it.
R&R costs vary significantly across countries but will need to be dramatically reduced for R&R to become feasible for farmers at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’. This includes re-thinking how inputs are delivered and exploring lower cost ways of delivering the technical assistance at scale.
Innovate in finance to leverage commercial capital to reach farmers further down the pyramid Blended finance models are needed to bring in commercial capital and are essential for scale. Additionally, innovations in de-risking lending are needed for the sector to provide returnable capital to farmers who are now only reached through grants
For many countries, the constellation of actors needed for successful R&R is not present and/or capable. These longer term, system-building investments are not glamorous, and hard to justify for value chain partners, but they are nonetheless essential for future R&R efforts.
Current programs work well at reaching certain types of smallholders and with 90% of the R&R need unmet, there is a clear and important need to scale up existing programs. Through the Guidebook case studies, you can identify programs that are already doing great work and see how you can partner with them to expand the efforts.
And for best practice in delivering R&R. By elevating the topic with governments and promoting R&R in a way that is environmentally friendly, governments investments can target those farmers that others struggle to reach.
As climate changes and there are increases in temperature and erratic weather patterns in coffeeproducing regions, there is a need to understand which varietals perform best where. Gathering data over time on pest and disease tolerance, quality and yield, among other variables, is essential to navigating risks when conducting R&R.
Data on R&R need is scarce globally, often based on expert estimates of how many smallholders there are, and what their links to markets are. Additionally, it is not always clear how farmers make decisions about farm level investments, including R&R. Implementers should gather this information in a more systematic manner and share lessons learned more widely.
The choice between renovation and rehabilitation is not always clear, but renovation has received the majority of the attention, with more projects/investment, and more data on outcomes. Rehabilitation has lower costs and risks, and the sector should seek to better understand what outcomes can be driven through rehabilitation and how often this is ‘enough’.
R&R Network members collectively developed best practice metrics to be used at the nursery, farm and program level. Not only are these metrics relevant for program managers as a way to ensure programs are being conducted in a sustainable manner that is driving benefits for farmers and their communities, it is useful data that can be analyzed to understand collective reach and impact of global R&R efforts. Download the best practice guidelines today!
There is a lot of work to be done to ensure the long-term supply of coffee from countries where the crop has long shaped the social and economic fabric. Learning to extend the life of their trees and improve yields helps farmers stabilize annual production and in turn, income, while the rest of the world benefits from a steady supply of quality coffee. Continue on to learn more about the immediate attention and action that is required to make this a reality.