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The newly released 2026 Coffee Barometer exposes systemic flaws in the global coffee industry over the past 20 years. Despite coffee prices recently reaching historic highs, the report reveals that the sector treats the symptoms of poverty and climate vulnerability rather than their root causes. This 20-year edition of the Coffee Barometer challenges the industry […]
To comply with the new EUDR regulation, without excluding small-scale farmers from European markets, Solidaridad is developing a methodology, with support from the Postcode Lottery, to accurately distinguish agroforestry farmland from forests. A major challenge is that the current geospatial monitoring tools often misclassify sustainably managed agroforestry systems as deforested land.This creates false positives and makes it difficult for small-scale farmers to demonstrate deforestation-free production. Solidaridad’s new tool, Farm2Forest Link, is designed to address this issue.
Agroforestry can improve farmers’ resilience and income and is a vital solution for landscape restoration, local climate adaptation and global mitigation. However, results fall short when systems are designed for farmers, instead of with them. The new Agroforestry Co-Design Guide is a practical, open resource to help co-create locally grounded agroforestry plans that farmers want, manage and keep.
Dutch retailers Albert Heijn, Superunie and Jumbo have committed to fair cocoa sourcing across their private label products. The combined market share of Dutch supermarkets that have committed to sourcing fair cocoa now exceeds 80%, marking a significant shift towards making fair chocolate the norm. To mark this milestone, we awarded them the Living Income Award—recognizing their commitment to advancing living incomes for cocoa farmers and accelerating sector-wide transformation.
Behind every cup of coffee, there’s a story. In Colombia, seven coffee cooperatives decided to take charge of that story by participating in a pilot project run by Progreso and Solidaridad, thereby gaining ownership of their own data.
The European Parliament adopted changes to postpone and simplify EUDR. Large companies have to apply the regulation from 30 December 2026, and smaller businesses by 30 June 2027. Let’s hope the third time is the charm—and this is the final delay. Constant shifts punish the frontrunners who acted early and destroy the predictability that all stakeholders need. Forests, farmers and European businesses need clarity to preserve our global biodiversity.
Supermarkets sit at the heart of global food systems. As the link between producers and millions of consumers, they have the power and responsibility to drive meaningful change across supply chains. At Solidaridad, we believe that supermarkets can be key partners in transforming markets, improving the livelihoods of farmers and workers and ensuring that sustainable products become the norm, not the exception.
During the 2025 Annual Conference of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a serious issue emerges: tens of thousands of certified independent smallholders are being left behind by the very system designed to support them. Despite achieving RSPO certification—a process requiring significant investment and commitment to social and environmental standards—the market is failing to purchase their certified produce and reward their efforts to invest in sustainability. The lack of uptake of credits creates a financial challenge for small farmers and threatens the integrity of the sustainable palm oil movement.
The Honduran palm sector, a vital contributor to the country’s economy, is facing a significant challenge: requirements under the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The regulation restricts access to the European market, unless farmers and suppliers demonstrate traceability, legality and deforestation-free production. Solidaridad is working with a local federation in the palm oil sector to rectify gaps to full compliance.
Featured Producer Stories
Alejandra Gurgúa Ruiz is a coffee cooperative leader from Chiapas, Mexico. What began as a return home after her father’s death became a path of technical expertise and community leadership.
For years, Rahinatu Lawal watched as heaps of fresh tomatoes harvested in her community went to waste due to inadequate storage facilities and a lack of processing options. Determined to tackle the problem, she began processing and preserving unsold tomatoes instead of letting them rot. She credits the Farmers Field and Business School under the Acting Now project in Nigeria for equipping her with the skills to do so.
Bahthiar Dollah is a local leader in the indigenous community of Kampung Orang Asli (KOA) Sungai Rambai, Carey Island in Malaysia. He is also a third-generation oil palm planter working to support his family and maintain the local environment. Bahthiar is among the 25 farmers in the Solidaridad Smallholder Support Programme, an initiative supported by Cargill.