More coffee with less water – towards a reduction of the blue water footprint in coffee production

Project completed

Intensified coffee production in Vietnam, the world’s second largest coffee producer, has resulted in seasonal water scarcity due to over-irrigation and water mismanagement. In this project Nestlé and SDC partner up to support achieving sufficient water availability for all water users in Vietnam. The project showcases that saving water is both, sustainable and profitable, for small scale coffee farmers. An aspect featured in global outreach and policy dialogues as well as in Switzerland as the world’s trading hub for coffee.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Vietnam
Water
Water sector policy
01.07.2018 - 31.03.2020
CHF  510’000
Background Coffee is the most important export product in value for Vietnam and supporting the rural livelihoods of over 2 million people, mainly in the Central Highlands. Over 40% of the Central Highlands’ population earns an income from coffee production. People living there are increasingly facing the challenges of drought and extreme water shortage. These threaten agricultural production, which affects community life and weakens the local economy. Aggravating this situation is the absence of systematic water resources monitoring. This project was designed & launched (July 2014) against this background and is now entering the second phase.
Objectives The overall goal is to ensure equitable and sufficient water availability for all water users in the Central Highlands (Vietnam) and to obtain pivotal water savings through improved irrigation management in the coffee sector reaching out to a critical mass of farmers, and hence improve people’s livelihoods in socio-economic terms and protect the environment.
Target groups 50’000 smallholder Robusta coffee farmers, farming households, local citizens and civil society, coffee traders and companies, private sector, local and national government, public and global actors, all water users.
Medium-term outcomes In line with the vision of the Vitnam Coffee Coordinating Board (VCCB) and Global Coffee Platform (GCP), the second project phase suggests a variety of interventions to improve water productivity and efficiency, reduce water consumption and engage in water policy formulation in an innovative project stakeholder setting. The core objective for project phase 2 is to turn lessons learned and findings into tangible policy recommendations in order to scale interventions and impact through partnerships with new public and private stakeholders and to feed those recommendations into a national and global dialogue on water efficiency.   
Results

Expected results:  

Lessons learned have been converted into concrete policy recommendations through strong involvement of government in the implementation of project and creation of ownership.

Additional surveys and studies have been conducted to build strong policy recommendations and commitment.

A Training of Trainers (ToT) program on Good Agricultural & Irrigation Practices has been implemented & a farmer training program has been implemented.

An application for smartphones integrating GAP guidelines and weather forecasting information has been developed & a local hosting organization identified.

New partnerships to scale up Water Monitoring & MAR have been identified

 


Results from previous phases:   During the first project phase (July 2014 – December 2017) awareness has been raised at all levels in the coffee industry about the importance of integrated water resources management and rational use of irrigation water for coffee farming. Farm level: 24,000 beneficiaries have been trained on proper irrigation management and started to reduce irrigation volumes towards the recommended 400 liter/tree/round (Project Evaluation Report, 2017). National level: The Vietnam Coffee Coordinating Board (VCCB) has included water saving and monitoring of water resources in their strategic action plan (Vision 2020, published in 2016), which directly feeds into the agenda of the Global Coffee Platform (GCP).


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Development cooperation
Project partners Contract partner
International or foreign NGO
  • Other international or foreign NGO North


Coordination with other projects and actors

Vietnamese Ministries of Agriculture (MARD) and Vietnam Coffee Coordination Board (VCCB)

Multistakeholder platforms (e.g. WRG) & NGOs

Local and national governments,

Private companies

All kind of water efficiency & productivity projects

SDC GPW’s water stewardship program with WRG 2030, AWS, CEO Water Mandate and WEF

Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    510’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    432’825
Project phases

Phase 2 01.07.2018 - 31.03.2020   (Completed)

Phase 1 01.05.2014 - 31.12.2017   (Completed)