Climate-smart coffee production in the East African Community and export opportunities to the EU

The report highlights that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, particularly mulching and agroforestry, can significantly increase coffee yields and carbon sequestration in the East African Community (EAC). It notes a growing export market in the EU, which accounted for 60.1% of EAC coffee exports in 2021, but emphasizes that producers must adopt CSA to meet stringent EU sustainability, traceability, and phytosanitary requirements. Key barriers to CSA adoption include limited finance, land tenure issues, and inadequate extension services.

• Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices significantly improve coffee yields, with mulching showing the highest impact, increasing yields by 58% compared to no-mulch controls. Other effective practices include organic/green manure (37.9% increase), irrigation (33% increase), and shade/agroforestry systems (22% increase).
• Coffee-based agroforestry and organic farming systems enhance carbon sequestration. Agroforestry/shaded coffee increases total carbon stock by an average of 77%, while organic coffee systems increase total carbon stock by 36%, with specific increases of 45% in aboveground and 32% in soil organic carbon stock.

APA

Sunguti, E. M., Sitati, C., Kehbila, A., Lutta, A., Suljada, T., & Osano, P. (2024). Climate-smart coffee production in the East African Community and export opportunities to the EU. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/sei2024.031-coffee-eac-eu-export.pdf

Chicago

Sunguti, Elizabeth Majani, Cynthia Sitati, Anderson Kehbila, Alphayo Lutta, Timothy Suljada, and Philip Osano. Climate-smart coffee production in the East African Community and export opportunities to the EU. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2024. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/sei2024.031-coffee-eac-eu-export.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sunguti |first1=Elizabeth Majani |last2=Sitati |first2=Cynthia |last3=Kehbila |first3=Anderson |last4=Lutta |first4=Alphayo |last5=Suljada |first5=Timothy |last6=Osano |first6=Philip |title=Climate-smart coffee production in the East African Community and export opportunities to the EU |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2024 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/sei2024.031-coffee-eac-eu-export.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sunguti2024climatesmart, author = {Sunguti, Elizabeth Majani and Sitati, Cynthia and Kehbila, Anderson and Lutta, Alphayo and Suljada, Timothy and Osano, Philip}, title = {{Climate-smart coffee production in the East African Community and export opportunities to the EU}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/sei2024.031-coffee-eac-eu-export.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }