The Coffee Canopy Partnership, initiated by JDE Peet's, has launched with the aim of improving the identification and remediation of coffee-related deforestation.

Developed alongside major coffee sector players including Louis Dreyfus Company, Sucden, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, Touton, Sucafina and Tchibo, the initiative aims to create what it describes as the world’s first comprehensive, openly accessible map of global coffee production.

The project will use satellite technology from Airbus to map coffee farms, identify areas of forest loss and support restoration efforts, while helping to protect the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

The first phase is an East Africa pilot covering Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, spanning 1.2 million square kilometres of coffee-growing landscapes. The partnership plans to expand to all coffee-growing regions globally in 2027 through wider industry and institutional investment.

Laurent Sagarra, VP of engagement at JDE Peet’s, said the initiative was designed to move beyond fragmented company-led deforestation programmes by supporting landscape-scale collaboration.

He added: “This is not another certification scheme; it is a sector-led initiative aimed at strengthening collective action to help keep forests vibrant and reduce the risk of coffee-driven deforestation over time".

The pilot phase is backed by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and endorsed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The programme also addresses mapping issues linked to the European Union Deforestation Regulation, under which coffee grown on land classified as forest after December 2020 cannot enter EU markets.

The Partnership said inaccurate land classification has risked excluding smallholder farmers, particularly those operating shade-grown and agroforestry systems, from key export markets.

To address this, the project plans to develop two datasets: a 2020-2021 baseline map showing the extent of coffee cultivation, and a 2024-2025 updated map highlighting potential new production land and areas where forest change has occurred since 2020.

These maps are expected to feed into an open geospatial platform intended to support farmers, governments and the wider coffee sector with sustainability planning and forest protection.