Round table meeting on certification of Ethiopian forest coffee at ZEF

How can the production, marketing and certification of forest coffee contribute to the conservation of forest coffee ecosystems and biodiversity in Ethiopia? This was one of the key questions discussed among representatives from research, NGOs, coffee trade and certification at a round table event organized by the ZEF-led project on “Conservation and use of wild coffee in the rainforests of Ethiopia” (CoCE) on September 18 2008.

The project’s research findings on “Incentive and financing mechanisms” were presented during the meeting. They show that higher producer prices give forest coffee farmers an incentive to intensify their production by means of increased forest management - with negative impacts on the forest ecosystem and biodiversity.

The participants discussed different marketing concepts that may help to overcome this dilemma in the future, amongst others the ‘adoption’ of coffee forest plots by consumers.