Our Work
Our work is purpose-driven, not academic. We focus on research with the potential to dramatically improve coffee productivity, coffee quality, climate resilience, and farmer livelihoods. We work in strategic geographies that support the continued competitiveness of diverse coffee origins, and work in deep partnership with national and international partners.
Research Areas
The seed is where it all begins. So that's where we begin, too. The coffee plant is the most important technology in the coffee value stream—creating billions of dollars of economic value globally and supporting hundreds of millions of livelihoods, from farmers to baristas. We work urgently with our partners to make better plants available and accessible to farmers.
Breeding
Today’s coffee varieties are no match for the threats of the 21st century, but breeding innovation severely lags other crops. We support our partners to apply modern breeding approaches to create better varieties that meet farmer and consumer demand.
Field & Quality Trials
Farmers need varieties that perform better than what they already have. Through our international network of trials, we test both existing and new varieties in the field and in the cup, we support the creation and diffusion of better plants that meet farmers’ and roasters’ needs.
Nurseries & Seed Value Chains
Creating the best variety in the world doesn’t matter if farmers can’t access it. But today, most farmers don’t know what varieties they have, and don’t have access to better. We work to make better plants available and accessible to farmers by strengthening seed systems, deploying new tools, purifying seed lots, and training nurseries.
Global Leadership
WCR drives a strategy to enhance the stability and quality of world production. Each year, we consolidate and elevate research on key topics and shared concerns of the global coffee industry.
Our Strategy
In 2021–2025, our strategic aim is to preserve origin diversity in the face of the climate crisis by accelerating innovation for coffee agriculture to enhance the productivity, profitability, and quality of coffee across major market segments in multiple, strategically targeted countries.
Our 2021–2025 Strategy
We will achieve this aim through an agricultural R&D program that advances three interconnected objectives:
Objective 1
Enhance the productivity of climate-resilient coffee production in order to increase farmer profitability, the linchpin of farmer economic sustainability
Objective 2
Improve the quality potential of coffee trees for different market segments (from commercial to premium to specialty, encompassing both arabica and robusta)
Objective 3
Mitigate supply chain risk by enhancing the competitiveness of strategically selected countries from the Americas, East Africa and Asia and driving an innovation agenda toward climate goals
Global Reach
Across the globe, farmers and coffee research institutions require better tools, methods, and knowledge to enhance the stability and quality of coffee production. We share openly with the global community.
Focus countries
We prioritize working in 11 countries critical for supporting origin diversity. Our 11 focus countries contain 50% of the world’s 12.5 million family coffee farms and produce 30% of the global supply of coffee. Here, we build deep partnerships with national research institutes and others, working collaboratively to consolidate, align, and increase research investments across the supply chain.
Our Approach
Through advocacy, leverage, and direct research, WCR works with partners to design and deliver relevant agricultural innovations to farmers to improve their resilience and profitability. These global partnerships, combined with country-specific partners, enhance the competitiveness of producing countries and their ability to address major threats to supplies of quality coffee.
Coffee Science Foundation (CSF)
The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) is a support organization of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) that serves as the research arm of the SCA. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of coffee and securing its future through research, knowledge-building, and outreach.
USDA Agricultural Research Service
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Their mission is to deliver scientific solutions to national and global agricultural challenges, from field to table.
CATIE
The Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) is a regional center dedicated to research and graduate education in agriculture, and the management, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. CATIE holds one of the world's most important collections of Coffea germplasm, with over 1,900 accessions of 11 species from Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, Tanzania, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico.
Global Coffee Platform (GCP)
The Global Coffee Platform is a multi-stakeholder membership association of coffee producers, trade, roasters, retailers, sustainability standards and civil society, governments and donors, united under a common vision to work collectively towards a thriving, sustainable coffee sector for generations to come.
Sustainable Coffee Challenge
The Sustainable Coffee Challenge is a collaborative effort of companies, governments, NGOs, research institutions and others to transition the coffee sector to be fully sustainable and stimulate demand for sustainable coffee. More than 150 international partners participate in the Challenge. Its activities are facilitated by Conservation International, with the agenda and actions led by Challenge partners.
MOCCA Program
The Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) Project is a five-year, $36.4 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and implemented by Technoserve. MOCCA builds the agricultural sectors of coffee and cocoa in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Peru, directly improving the livelihoods of over 120,000 farmers.
Crop Trust
The Crop Trust's mission is to ensure humanity conserves and makes available the world’s crop diversity for future food security. The Crop Trust were founded in 2004 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and Bioversity International on behalf of the CGIAR.
The Ohio State University
The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (FABE) is an international leader in the advancement of the science and application of engineering in systems involving food, agriculture, environment, and construction.
