Ecuador exported its first batch of sustainable coffee to Italy with a special mention: “free of deforestation”. A shipment of 17.2 tons of the Arabica variety, as reported on Monday, August 1, by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition.
The shipment was made on Friday, July 29, at the port of Guayaquil, the largest in Ecuador, as part of ProAmazonia, a program of the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture and Livestock, implemented with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
For this sale, the coffee was harvested by two organizations that are part of the pilot project to establish farm perimeters that identify the forests to be conserved and traceability, which has been promoted through ProAmazon.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, this export is a pioneering initiative in Ecuador on sustainable and deforestation-free production, focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
Ecuador’s goal is for small farmers to actively participate in sustainable production processes, accompanied by companies that guide them to improve their quality and productivity and generate a better price.
In this way, producers are incentivized to participate in the international market that recognizes their efforts to conserve forests, thus consolidating their commitment to sustainable production free of deforestation.
With information from EFE