WCR leverages its impact via 9 global development programs

These projects aim to invest $144 million dollars in 10 major coffee exporting countries

Wild-forest harvested coffee, Kaffa Bioreserve

Wild-forest harvested coffee, Kaffa Bioreserve. Photo by Jeff Koehler.

To fulfill its promise of accelerating innovation in coffee agriculture, WCR contributes critical research and development (R&D) components to numerous coffee development programs being implemented around the world. These programs are typically funded by donor governments and focus on providing various kinds of support to farmers and/or coffee producing countries.

WCR brings a research lens to these programs, contributing scientific and technical expertise and ensuring that they take long-term R&D capacity building into account. These projects serve as a way to ensure that innovation and knowledge generated through agricultural science reaches more smallholder farmers, who are responsible for the production of approximately 60% of the world’s coffee.

WCR acts as a bridge, connecting the expertise of the private sector with projects on the ground. In 2021, WCR contributed scientific and technical expertise to nine publicly funded development programs targeting the coffee sector. In total, these projects aim to invest $144 million dollars in 10 major coffee exporting countries, impacting 159,433 coffee farmers.

Included in these nine programs are three led directly by WCR, through which $691,214 was allocated to advance coffee R&D. These projects comprised:

Rehabilitating Puerto Rico’s Coffee Seed Sector Post Hurricane Maria

Where: Puerto Rico

Funders: Starbucks Foundation and the Fonalledas Foundation

Partners: Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters and Hispanic Foundation

Target coffee beneficiaries: 200

Total project investment: $585,243

Global Coffee Genetic Resource Conservation

Where: Global

Funder: USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service

Partners: Crop Trust, NCIs

Total project investment: $32,971

Strengthening Ethiopian Coffee Sector

Where: Ethiopia

Funder: Feed the Future USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service

Partners: USAID/Ethiopia, EIAR, JARC

Total project investment: $75,000


The additional 6 projects to which WCR contributed include:

Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA)

Where: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru

Funder: Food for Progress, USDA

Partners: TechnoServe (lead), PROMECAFE, NCIs, NGOs

Target coffee beneficiaries: 60,000 farmers

Total project investment: $36.4m (for coffee and cacao)

Feed the Future Democratic Republic of the Congo Strengthening Value Chains

Where: Democratic Republic of Congo

Funder: Feed the Future USAID/DRC

Partners: TetraTech (lead), INERA, UCB

Target coffee beneficiaries: 15,000 farmers

Total project investment: $23m

Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise (PhilCAFE)

Where: Philippines

Funder: Food For Progress, USDA

Partners: ACDI/VOCA (lead), DSSC, CMU

Target coffee beneficiaries: 70,250 people

Total project investment: $25.45m

Innovative Technology for the Management of Coffee Nurseries

Where: Mexico

Funder: Interamerican Bank

Partners: Sustainable Harvest (lead)

Target coffee beneficiaries: 2,000

Total project investment: $2m

Peru Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFÉ)

Where: Peru

Funder: USAID/Peru

Partners: Technoserve (lead)

Target coffee beneficiaries: 12,000

Total project investment: $12.925m

Program for Strengthening the Climate Resilience of Coffee Forests in El Salvador

Where: El Salvador

Funder: Interamerican Development Bank

Leader: Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC)

Target coffee beneficiaries: TBD

Total project investment: $45m