Navigating the new EU deforestation regulation in the coffee industry: Challenges and prospects for remote-sensing solutions

The coffee industry faces a critical juncture with the recent introduction of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This policy demands stringent traceability and reporting on deforestation risks associated with seven key globally traded commodities based on remote sensing. With a focus on coffee, this paper synthesizes insights from survey results, interviews, and engagement with operators placing coffee on the EU market, and an examination of remote-sensing solutions. The paper articulates the industry's preparedness for EUDR compliance and discusses the way forward. The paper also highlights persistent challenges to accurately mapping tree-crop commodities and agroforestry systems at a global scale, along with the accompanying risk of falsely detecting deforestation related to coffee grown under such systems. This is particularly the case for smallholder-based production and poses a consequent risk of operators abandoning such regions. The results also show that the operators currently have insufficient capabilities for processing remote-sensing data to demonstrate or verify that their product is not sourced from deforested areas. Successful implementation of the EUDR requires solutions that are accessible to the operators and that build community- and operator-level capacity in Remote Sensing and georeferencing. The Terra-i + initiative offers a promising solution that can be tailored to the coffee sector and showcases successful calibration and accurate mapping outcomes. However, it is important to strike an appropriate balance between global expediency and local precision. The paper proposes a standardized bottom-up approach, where global standards are defined collaboratively, yet implementation remains locally led, mitigating risks of misclassification, and ensuring the inclusion of vulnerable smallholder producers.