Guidance on Coffee Carbon Project Development Using the Simplified Agroforestry Methodology

The purpose of this guide is to provide those who own or manage coffee farms and the companies or associations who trade coffee with practical, how-to information on developing an agroforestry, afforestation or reforestation project, so that together they can undertake activities that will sequester additional carbon on farm and by doing so, be eligible to earn carbon credits. Rainforest Alliance Certification, earned by compliance with the Sustainable Agriculture Standard, is a suggested foundation to the practices explained in this guidance.

The guidance assists growers and their partners (such as coffee traders) in using a particular methodology to quantify the carbon sequestration through a project. Our approach has not been to invent an entirely new methodology, but to work with an existing one, and to make it accessible to end-users. The methodology is formally titled: “AR-AMS0004 – Simplified baseline and monitoring methodology for small-scale agroforestry – afforestation and reforestation project activities under the Clean Development Mechanism”. It has been approved by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This methodology can be implemented on coffee farms with little to no adaptation. 

This guidance was developed and tested by the Rainforest Alliance, whose effort was made possible by the support of the International Finance Corporation’s Innovation Fund and in collaboration with ProNatura Sur of Mexico.