Our approach

How can we help create more sustainable coffee and tea production?

In our projects in coffee and tea producing countries, we make learning easier and more effective by encouraging producers to work in groups. In participatory processes, we support producers in developing entrepreneurship by offering them knowledge on how to improve productivity, quality, production and processing efficiency.

Interaction and discussion leads to improvements

Farmer Field Schools (FFS) provide an excellent learning environment where agricultural practices are registered and compared with each other. Discussion often leads to self-initiated improvements. Once significant steps forwards have been made, producers' achievements are officially recognized through certification by UTZ Certified.
Find out more about the FFS training programmes in our Ugandan project

Projects benefit producers and the coffee industry

Ultimately, our aim is to provide producers opportunities to improve their income and living conditions. For the coffee and tea industry as a whole, we are creating valuable knowledge and insights into mainstream sustainability issues (for the prevailing volumes and quantities).

The DE Foundation is open to sharing lessons learned with all relevant stakeholders (coffee industry, non-governemtal organizations...) in the value chain.
In our coffee projects, we have contributed to and worked along the recommended sustainability practices of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative.

Our tea projects are part of the Tea Improvement Program of the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH). We are also a founding partner of the coffee programme of the same initiative.