Implementing Agroforestry in the Supply-Chain: Evidence from Coffee Farmers

Agroforestry – a land use system in which trees are grown among crops – can turn coffee farms into carbon sinks, sequestering up to 0.16 metric tons of CO2e per metric ton of coffee produced (IDH 2019). Agroforestry also supports climate change adaptation by shielding coffee plantations from heat and reducing damage caused by heavy rains. Trees also provide income diversification for farmers. Despite its potential benefits, agroforestry adoption is low, particularly in poorer countries (Amare and Darr, 2020).

Building on a long-term collaboration with a multinational, we design and evaluate a supply-chain agroforestry intervention. We embed a PES scheme to incentivize agroforestry within pre-existing sourcing relationships between our partner and coffee farmers. The program connects farmers to missing markets for carbon credits and addresses common implementation challenges. The project will generate evidence on how embedding a PES scheme within a supply-chain can promote efficient climate change mitigation and adaptation.