Brewing Biodiversity: How Sustainable Coffee Improves Lives and Protects Landscapes
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, coffee farmers are employing new regenerative agriculture practices that improve yields, increase incomes, and allow farmers to meet their families' needs while also promoting biodiversity and conservation.
In Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP), two extinct volcanoes tower above the horizon, often shrouded in mist and clouds. The park, situated in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) near the southern shore of Lake Kivu, teems with plant and animal life. Its lush forests are home to one of the last groups of eastern lowland gorillas, a critically endangered species. The park is also significant for the smallholder farmers who live near its borders.
Biodiversity—the variety of living species on Earth—underpins healthy ecosystems and sustainable agriculture. KBNP is one of the most biodiverse protected areas in eastern DRC. For the small-scale specialty coffee farmers who live near the park, its biodiversity is vital for food security, income generation, and building resilience against social and environmental challenges.
Marcel Ntalambagira is a coffee farmer, husband, and father of eight in South Kivu province.
“The protection of KBNP interests me as a coffee farmer because it ensures that we have timely rainfall for ourselves and our plants, which will allow us to produce a lot of good-quality coffee,” Marcel explained. “It will also allow us to have food on time, good health, a healthy environment, and avoid several diseases and pests.”
Despite being a protected area, KBNP faces significant threats to its biodiversity, ranging from poaching, illegal logging and charcoal production to civil unrest and displacement of local communities. Addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach that tackles poverty, promotes sustainable livelihoods for local communities, and fosters cooperation amongst all stakeholders.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Gorilla Coffee Alliance (GCA) fosters an innovative partnership between Nestlé Nespresso, Olam Food Ingredients (ofi), TechnoServe, and Asili to develop a robust and inclusive coffee sector in South Kivu province, DRC. Since 2021, USAID GCA has been working with eight coffee processors and over 8,000 producers to tackle poverty and biodiversity loss in the watersheds between KBNP and Lake Kivu.
This region boasts exceptional conditions for regenerative coffee farming due to the ecosystem benefits offered by both the park and the lake. USAID GCA aims to create a future where communities and nature can thrive symbiotically by empowering coffee farmers, boosting farmers’ incomes, and promoting sustainable practices.
USAID GCA accomplishes this through Nespresso’s AAA Program, which is a coffee sourcing program designed to ensure the continued supply of high-quality coffee, while also improving the livelihoods of farmers, their communities, and ensuring environmental protection. As part of the AAA Academy training, coffee producers around KBNP receive training to apply several regenerative agriculture practices that promote biodiversity protection and income generation. These include:
- Adoption of composting, mulching, planting of native shade trees, and establishing vetiver grass to prevent soil erosion;
- Establishment and maintenance of native woodlots to reduce reliance on KBNP for trees timber and firewood; and,
- Intercropping coffee with beans, bananas, fruit trees, and shade trees for additional food, income, and mulch.
Regenerative Practices for Sustainable Coffee Farming in Eastern DRC
Farmers like Marcel Ntalambagira and Josephine Mauwa are adopting regenerative practices like composting, mulching, planting shade trees and woodlots, and intercropping with bananas. These practices improve yields and directly boost farmers’ incomes, allowing them to meet their families’ needs without encroaching on the park.
Marcel sees the value of KBNP for rain, good plant health, and crop production. He stated,
“My adoption of regenerative practices on my farm protects biodiversity by providing for my family without harming the park for wood or bushmeat.”
Josephine Mauwa, a 65-year-old farmer and mother of six, has similar views. She has planted two groves of Markhamia lutea, a tree native to the region, also known as Nile trumpet, to provide wood for construction and fuel. It helps reduce illegal logging from the national park.
“[The park] helps us a lot in several areas, and we have a real interest in protecting it,” she explained. “By protecting KBNP, it’s like ensuring good agricultural production for now and the future.”
Josephine Mauwa purchased goats with the income from her coffee. (TechnoServe / Innocent Amani Muka)
A Bright Future Through Sustainable Coffee
Through USAID GCA’s training, technical support, seedling distribution, access to markets, and premium prices that buyers like ofi and Nespresso can offer, coffee farmers – such as Marcel and Josephine – see a bright future for sustainable coffee production as a viable source of income, which can improve their families’ lives while also protecting the environment for future generations.
“I take care of my coffee trees with great care as if they were babies because my husband and I know very well their importance for the well-being of my family,” Josephine shared. “Even my children are currently studying thanks to the income from the coffee, and we also eat well in our household. Even the goat you see, I bought it [with revenues generated] through this same coffee field.”
About USAID’s Gorilla Coffee Alliance
USAID’s Gorilla Coffee Alliance is a five-year public-private partnership initiative designed to develop a robust and inclusive coffee sector in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The goal is to create a virtuous cycle of conservation and prosperity by building local capacity in landscape transformation, increasing incomes, and improving the well-being of 8,500 coffee farmers in surrounding communities.
