Kenya accelerates coffee geo-mapping to meet EU Deforestation Regulation deadline 

KENYA – Kenya is intensifying efforts to comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), a new law requiring exporters to demonstrate that agricultural goods entering the EU market were not produced on deforested land reclaimed after 31 December 2020. 

The Kenyan government has committed to achieving full traceability of key commodities, including coffee, by 30 December 2025. Failure to comply with the regulation could put at risk coffee exports worth up to KES 90 billion annually. 

Principal Agricultural Officer for Food Security at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Tasisio Odongo, confirmed that Kenya has already geo-mapped more than 30 percent of its national coffee area since the exercise began in July. The mapping covers 16 out of 33 coffee-growing counties using satellite imagery. 

Odongo is leading a multi-agency EUDR Data Committee conducting coffee mapping exercises in Subukia, Bahati, and Rongai sub-counties in Nakuru.  

The committee includes the State Department of Agriculture (SDA), 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), coordinated by the Agriculture Food Authority (AFA). 

According to AFA, Kenya exports 95 percent of its coffee, with approximately 55 percent shipped to the European Union, primarily Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and Finland. 

Over the past five years, the country exported 122,699 metric tons of clean coffee to the EU, valued at USD 695.7 million, equivalent to about KES 90 billion. 

Odongo stated that the remaining coffee production areas would be mapped before the December 2025 deadline. He emphasized that the mapping process will strengthen compliance efforts and bolster Kenya’s coffee sector in the long term. 

The EU regulation targets commodities closely associated with deforestation, including coffee, cocoa, soy, beef, palm oil, rubber, and wood. Under the law, exporters must provide verifiable data showing products were not produced on deforested land. 

Odongo highlighted the crucial role of smallholder farmers, who produce around 70 percent of Kenya’s total coffee output. He underscored their importance to the rural economy across 33 coffee-growing counties and noted that their participation is essential to achieving compliance. 

Stakeholders and members of the public seeking clarification on the regulation or mapping efforts have been urged to contact the EUDR Data Committee. 

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