This article was originally published on Comunicaffe International.
Milan, January 2, 2026
Tran Quynh Chi, IDH Program Director, Climate and Nature: “In response to the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), IDH, based on the 10 year foundation of the Vietnam Coffee Landscapes Program, formed a public-private consortium to co-develop a farm and forest database, pilot a sectoral traceability system, and address systemic deforestation-free supply chain challenges. Collaborating with the Vietnamese government, IDH helped establish the world’s first national action plan for deforestation-free sourcing areas in compliance with EUDR, ensuring Vietnam’s coffee sector is prepared to meet these regulatory standards effectively”
For companies in the coffee sector, investing in landscape initiatives is increasingly recognised as a route to address environmental and social challenges that cannot be solved at the farm or supply chain level alone. By working collaboratively with local stakeholders, including farmers, communities, and governments, companies can help build resilient landscapes that secure long term supply.
Building on a shared vision can also help with meeting growing regulatory and market expectations.
IDH has been developing collaborative landscape initiatives with private and public sector partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America for over a decade.
IDH aims to protect and restore ecosystems and degraded land at scale by encouraging pre-competitive collaboration to collective challenges like deforestation, value chain decarbonisation and increasing farmer resilience.
Since 2015, IDH has implemented a landscape approach in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, which accounts for around 95% of the country’s coffee production, to safeguard forests, enhance water management, and reduce agrochemical use.
IDH has worked with European and Vietnamese coffee companies for many years, initially to reduce very high pesticide input without reducing yields.
“In response to the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), IDH, based on the 10 year foundation of the Vietnam Coffee Landscapes Program, formed a public-private consortium to co-develop a farm and forest database, pilot a sectoral traceability system, and address systemic deforestation-free supply chain challenges. Collaborating with the Vietnamese government, IDH helped establish the world’s first national action plan for deforestation-free sourcing areas in compliance with EUDR, ensuring Vietnam’s coffee sector is prepared to meet these regulatory standards effectively,” said Tran Quynh Chi, IDH Program Director, Climate and Nature.
Independent analysis of this work shows that the cost of achieving regenerative outcomes together at landscape level was between eight and fifteen times lower than when companies work on these efforts individually.
“Through our collaboration with IDH under the Landscape Approach Initiative for Sustainable Coffee Production, we have connected with many partners who share the same vision and mission — from local authorities and businesses to farmers — and have achieved results that a single company could hardly accomplish alone. This cooperation helps reduce risks, optimise costs, and promote sustainable solutions that bring long-term benefits, ensuring the well-being of the environment, nature, and local communities,” said Pham Huy Dat (John Pham), Project & Marketing Manager, Intimex My Phuoc Joint Stock Company.
For more information about IDH’s landscapes approach visit idh.org/focus-areas/landscapes.
To search for existing landscape initiatives from IDH and many other organisations visit SourceUp.org.