Mobile app tracks Costa Rican coffee’s carbon footprint

The NAMA Café de Costa Rica initiative has deployed a mobile app and MRV system to track carbon footprints in the coffee sector, leading to a significant correction in national emission estimates for coffee from 8% to 1%. The system collects real data from farmers and mills to identify emission sources—primarily fertiliser, agroforestry, pulp, waste water, and fossil fuels—and supports the adoption of low-emission technologies and premium market access.

• The NAMA Café de Costa Rica initiative employs a mobile app and MRV system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase productivity through activities such as reducing fertiliser use, improving water and energy efficiency in processing, and promoting eco-friendly agroforestry systems.
• The use of real data collected via the CR-CAFÉ app and the MRV system allowed the National Coffee Institute (ICAFE) to establish a more accurate baseline, revealing that coffee accounts for 1% of national emissions rather than the previously estimated 8%.
• The primary drivers of emissions in the production and processing of coffee are identified as fossil fuel use, waste water, coffee pulp, agroforestry systems, and the use of fertilisers.
• The initiative has achieved significant scale in its technical implementation, with 61 mills processing more than 50% of the country's coffee having calculated emissions and applied mitigation strategies, while 6,000 farmers and 500 technicians received training on carbon intensity calculations.

APA

May, P. (n.d.). Mobile app tracks Costa Rican coffee’s carbon footprint. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/story/feature-mobile-app-helps-costa-rica-track-coffees-carbon-footprint

Chicago

May, Paul. Mobile app tracks Costa Rican coffee’s carbon footprint. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, n.d. https://cdkn.org/story/feature-mobile-app-helps-costa-rica-track-coffees-carbon-footprint.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=May |first1=Paul |title=Mobile app tracks Costa Rican coffee’s carbon footprint |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |url=https://cdkn.org/story/feature-mobile-app-helps-costa-rica-track-coffees-carbon-footprint |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mayndmobile, author = {May, Paul}, title = {{Mobile app tracks Costa Rican coffee’s carbon footprint}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, url = {https://cdkn.org/story/feature-mobile-app-helps-costa-rica-track-coffees-carbon-footprint}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }