Advancing Sustainability in Rwanda's Coffee Sector

We are co-hosting a one-day event on advancing sustainability in Rwanda's coffee sector through data-sharing and addressing certification challenges on February 28, 2018, in Kigali.

Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSSs) have become increasingly important in international commodity sectors, and their growth and impact in the Rwandan coffee sector clearly demonstrate their significant role. VSSs have shown both positive impacts and challenges in the sector. To properly understand their impact and how to most effectively use them, credible impact data on the environmental, social and economic costs and benefits of these programs is needed. 

To address these issues, IISD is co-hosting the one-day meeting to focus on credible data collection and sharing, as well as jointly developing and implementing a collective action plan to respond to the challenges and bottlenecks related to VSSs in Rwanda, focusing on the coffee sector.

The meeting, jointly hosted by the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), Sustainable Growers and IISD, aims to increase sustainability in the coffee sector in Rwanda and the benefits received by producers by improving the effectiveness of VSSs as a sustainable development tool.