Preliminary diagnostics revealed that small producers needed technical and financial assistance to improve their farming practices and to increase their yields. Together, the project partners, with the help from the specialists The Rainforest Alliance & CIRAD, have provided technical assistance to improve the lives of the producers, their families and their workers. To complement the technical assistance and enable producers to make sustainable investments in their farms, ECOM with the help from IFC, established a line of credit of $25 million dollars.

The project is comprised of three components:

1) Improved Sustainable Practices featuring the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program; Fairtrade Labeling Organisations International (FLO); and 4C Platform - Common Code for the Coffee Community

2) Access to Financing (Credit)

3) Improved Productivity featuring the introduction of new improved coffee varieties; improved pruning techniques; and integrated pest management

Results as of December 2009:
✓ A total of US$3.7 million in sales premiums paid to producers whose coffee has been verified & sold to Nespresso, Nestlé’s high-quality coffee brand
✓ 5,654 coffee farmers are part of the project’s Nespresso clusters, almost double the original project target of 3,367.
✓ 6 new units of 4C verified producers have been established, increasing the region’s share of sustainably produced coffee.
✓ Since the beginning of the project, 12,134 producers have been reached through 463 workshops and/or training sessions on sustainable business practices and productivity.
✓ 186,097 new variety plants have been installed in 129 demonstration plots across 4 of the project countries.
✓ Due to its popularity with farmers, the training on productivity topics has been provided to 3,282 farmers, more than doubling its original targets.