Kenya accelerates coffee farm mapping to comply with EU Deforestation Regulation
Over 30% of coffee farmland in Kenya has been geo-mapped as the country moves to meet EU compliance deadlines.
KENYA – Kenya, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, has initiated an extensive exercise to map all coffee farming land across the country.
The initiative aims to support compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which mandates that agricultural products entering the EU be traceable to land not linked to deforestation.
As of now, approximately 30% of the national coffee area—spanning 16 out of 33 coffee-growing counties—has been geo-mapped using satellite imagery. This represents 32,688 hectares out of a total national coffee cultivation area of 109,384 hectares.
According to the Director General of the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), Dr. Bruno Linyiru, the mapping initiative is a key regulatory function under the Crops Act, 2013, which mandates AFA to regulate scheduled crops, including coffee.
Speaking on the status of Kenya’s EUDR implementation, Dr. Linyiru confirmed that the mapping process is being undertaken in phases and will be completed within the set timelines to meet the European Union’s deadline.
He further noted that several teams under the EUDR Data Committee will continue mapping the remaining coffee production zones in the next two months.
The exercise is being coordinated by AFA and includes representatives from the State Department of Agriculture, State Department for Cooperatives, Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Kenya Space Agency (KSA), Directorate of Remote Survey and Remote Sensing (DRSRS), and Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO).
Kenya exports around 95 percent of its coffee, with the European Union accounting for nearly 55 percent of the total exports. Major destination countries include Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and Finland.
Over the past five years, Kenya has exported 122,699 metric tons of clean coffee to the EU, generating revenue of KES 90 billion (US$695.7 million).
The EUDR, initially set to be enforced by 30th December 2024 and later extended to 30th December 2025, requires that all agricultural commodities linked to deforestation such as coffee, cocoa, soy, beef, palm oil, rubber, and wood—must originate from deforestation-free land as of 31st December 2020.
The regulation is part of the EU’s broader goal to ensure that key products traded globally do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation.
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