Integrated Landscape Management Gains Traction In Coffee – CoffeeTalk

Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) approaches are gaining traction in key global commodity sectors such as coffee. These approaches involve collaboration with stakeholders at a landscape level. Vietnam’s coffee sector, for example, was “on the verge of being banned” by the EU due to legislation introduced in 2009 to tackle high glyphosate levels.

IDH assisted government agencies, farmer groups and large producers like JDE Peet’s to develop three landscape-level projects in the coffee-producing provinces of Lam Dong and Dak Lak. Chemical inputs have come down as a result, and today the EU buys more coffee from Vietnam than anywhere else, bar Brazil. JDE Peet’s work in these landscapes over the past decade has included 36 water conservation initiatives and precision irrigation schemes, producing a 20% reduction in water consumption.

Nadia Hoarau‑Mwaura, JDE’s sustainability director, says ILM is “fundamental to how we future‑proof our business”. The company has integrated ILM into its new Nature Transition Plan, embedding regenerative agriculture and due‑diligence practices into its sourcing to manage human rights, climate and biodiversity risks.

Partners in IDH’s landscape projects in Vietnam’s coffee-growing areas experimented with a shared data system, prompting the national government to expand the scheme into a nationwide database. IDH estimates that EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) compliance costs under this approach can be up to three times lower than when companies monitor their supply chains on a farm-by-farm basis.

Jack Bugas, partner and sustainable agriculture expert at consulting firm, BCG, sees companies increasingly treating investment in ILM and similar long-term sustainable farming approaches “not as discretionary” but as strategically important tools” for managing supply-chain risks.

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