ANNUAL REPORT - Rainforest Alliance

Ethiopian coffee regions are a biodiversity hotspot,
and here more than anywhere else we are combining
coffee production, forest conservation and biodiversity
protection. This is not only in Ethiopia , s best interest
but in the collective interest of the world.
Assefah Tigneh, Rainforest Alliance Technical Representative, Ethiopia
3
hile African nations possess a vast wealth of natural resources, they
also face a host of challenges including poverty, political instability
and environmental degradation — the result of damaging logging and
farming. Sixty-five percent of Africa’s population subsists on less than $1
a day, and according to the United Nations, the continent lost the highest percentage
of forests of any region on Earth during the last 30 years, resulting in the loss of tens
of thousands of plant and animal species. By providing the tools and economic
incentives to manage the land sustainably, the Rainforest Alliance is helping to
conserve Africa’s precious biodiversity while increasing the livelihoods of some
of the world’s most impoverished people.
Growing Support for African Farmers
In Ethiopia, the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal was first awarded to coffee
farms in 2006. In addition to helping these farmers run their operations more
sustainably and efficiently, we have been working with businesses that sell Africa-originated
Rainforest Alliance Certified products and cultivating relationships
with international food companies forging links between consumers in developed
economies and producers in Africa. Certification brings continuous improvements
to environmental protection, farm management and worker welfare, as well as enabling
growers to obtain higher prices for their harvest.
08 Rainforest Alliance Annual Report