Farmers in Africa that produce some of the world’s most prized coffee are in a scramble to comply with new European Union environmental rules that require them to document the origin of every shipment of beans.
The new measure, coming into force at the end of this year, is designed to prevent deforestation driven by agricultural expansion. To comply, farmers must provide geolocation data to show that their coffee was not grown on land where forests have recently been cut down.
After Dec. 31, any producers that cannot provide this documentation will lose access to the vast European market.
Europe consumes more coffee than any country or bloc in the world and experts say the new rule, formally known as the E.U. Deforestation Regulation, is a potentially powerful tool to promote sustainable agriculture and prevent forest destruction.
But it also represents what some are calling a “green squeeze” that imposes heavy burdens on millions of small farmers in developing countries that have contributed the least to climate change, and tests ability of policymakers to balance the needs of people and the needs of nature.
“Of course data is very important to us, but what we are just saying is we need support,” said Dejene Dadi, head of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. “It’s very challenging and costly and we don’t have any help.”
Mr. Dadi said his group, the largest coffee growers’ cooperative in Ethiopia, with more than half a million members based in the central part of the country, probably could not prepare all its farms by the deadline without additional support.
Trainers have traversed the Oromia region for more than a year, collecting coordinates for maps and helping farmers with new technology. As of March, they had mapped 24,000 farms. European officials will verify shipments by cross-checking current geolocation data against base line satellite images and forest cover maps.
Mr. Dadi said the cost of mapping one farm was about $4.50. The cost of training is partly covered by a grant form the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization that was created to help poor countries expand trade.
Ethiopia is the top coffee producer in Africa, and the crop accounts for about 35 percent of the country’s revenue. The Arabica variety, smooth and mild with fruity and nutty notes, originated in the country’s southwestern highlands. More than a third of Ethiopia’s coffee goes to Europe.
According to a French government report last year, E.U. consumption is responsible for 44 percent of coffee-related deforestation worldwide. Another report, by the World Resources Institute, an environmental group, found that nearly two million hectares of forest cover had been replaced by coffee plantations between 2001 and 2025. Indonesia, Brazil and Peru recorded some of the highest deforestation rates in that period.
Global leaders pledged in 2021 at a climate summit in Glasgow to end deforestation by 2030. The agreement underscored a growing awareness of the role of nature in tackling the climate crisis. Intact forests are natural storehouses of planet-warming carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere, where, as carbon dioxide, it speeds warming by trapping the sun’s heat. When forests are cleared, those areas switch to releasing greenhouse gases. It also harms the forest’s biodiversity by disrupting habitat.
The new E.U. rule also covers cattle, cocoa, palm oil, rubber and other crops. Coffee shipments without proper mapping data can be rejected or confiscated, and the importer can be fined.
But some experts say the measure is being implemented without the necessary support for farmers.
Jodie Keane, an economist at ODI Global, a research organization based in London, said the European Union and major coffee chains should do more to help small farmers.
“We all want to prevent deforestation,” Ms. Keane said. “But if you’re going to apply that standard to rural producers, you’re going to have to provide a lot of outreach, sensitization, you’re going to have to invest in learning how to do things differently so that they don’t just get dropped from the supply chain.”
Etelle Higonet, founder of Coffee Watch, a monitoring group, echoed that. “These are some of the richest companies in the world,” she said of European coffee chains. “Of course they could afford to do this.”
In an email, Johannes Dengler, a managing partner at Alois Dallmayr, one of the best-known coffee brands in Germany, acknowledged that the new rule was an “enormous challenge” for Ethiopia. He said Dallmayr was developing systems to assure compliance and was “working closely with our partners to find viable solutions.”
The office of the European Union commissioner for trade and economic security did not respond to requests for comment. In a news release on April 15 the bloc said that, based on feedback from partner countries, it had allocated 86 million euros, or about $97 million, to support compliance efforts.
Ethiopian coffee farmers take pride in their high-quality beans, a result of exceptional heirloom varieties, high altitudes and traditional farming practices.
In the southwestern Jimma Highlands, farmers like Zinabu Abadura say most growers follow a longstanding unwritten rule against cutting trees.
Mr. Abadura, who sells directly to informal middlemen, said his farm has not yet been mapped. Most farmers in his area live off their coffee proceeds and cannot afford disruptions or additional expenses. “Life will be difficult,” when the new European rule comes into force, he said.
But while the new E.U. standards could reorder the Ethiopian coffee sector, analysts say, they probably will not halt sales.
Countries like China offer alternative, less-rigid markets. And Ethiopians themselves are big coffee drinkers. Hospitality is incomplete without a coffee ceremony, where hosts roast, grind and brew beans in front of their guests. About half of the country’s yearly coffee production stays at home.
But Tsegaye Anebo, who heads the Sidama Coffee Union, which represents 70,000 farmers, said pivoting to new markets would be disruptive in the short term. He noted that his region’s Sidamo variety, distinctive for its fruity tones, was a favorite in wealthy Europe. And that means premium prices.
Giving up on the E.U. market, he said, is not an option.
“We need the E.U.,” Mr. Anebo said. “But they also need us because they can’t find our coffee anywhere.”
Munira Abdelmenan contributed reporting.