National Geographic UK - 10.2019

We may love coffee but, according to a 2019 study,

our morning cup could be on the brink. Scientists at

Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens claim that conditions

like deforestation, pests and pathogens could see 60

per cent of all wild coffee species perish within the

next few decades. Climate change alone could cut

land suitable for Arabica production in half by 2050.

Nespresso wants to make sure none of this comes

to fruition. That’s why they’ve created the AAA

Sustainable Quality program to help farmers in prime

coffee growing regions make their smallholdings

more resilient to climate change. One of the ways it’s

doing so is with trees, which are key to the future of

not only high-quality coffee but the valuable heritage

of the cultures that grow it.

By 2020, Nespresso plans to plant five million trees in

Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico,

and Nicaragua through insetting – an agroforestry

practice that balances a business’s carbon emissions

by planting trees within it’s supply chain. The insetting

process, implemented by forestry partner PUR Projet,

goes beyond accounting for a company’s emissions to

restore local ecosystems and help build sustainability.

Over decades, increasingly turbulent weather

conditions in these regions have caused their natural

tree cover to disappear; taking soil-nourishing

nutrients and wildlife that fortified the land with it.

But, by planting the right kinds of saplings on their

high-altitude mountain slopes, smallholders like Willy

Solares Aguilar of Jalapa, Guatemala are nurturing

biodiversity back into full-swing.

“The trees are a new beginning for us,”

Don Willy says, “Birds and wildlife

have come back to my farm. Nespresso

is teaching us to protect the planet. I’m

sure my family and I will be producing

coffee for years to come.”

Since 2014, Don Willy has been working closely

with Nespresso agronomists to understand how

the trees he’s planting secure his coffee’s future by

enriching the soil and protecting against extreme

weather. But, as a lucrative additional benefit,

they’ll also provide Don Willy and his wife Maria

an additional income from the fruit, timber and

fuelwood they’ll produce.

Passionate about preserving their region’s rich coffee

culture, forward thinking farmers like Don Willy are

integral in encouraging other growers to adopt

Nespresso’s sustainable agroforestry practices. After

all, it’s these techniques that will help them ensure

that their heritage, and the world’s coffee supply,

prospers for generations to come.

Preventing a world without coffee

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