A new report from non-profits TechnoServe and Sustainable Food Lab analyzes how adopting regenerative agriculture practices can affect the living income of smallholder coffee farmers. The study modeled typical farm households in seven producing countries to determine if regenerative methods alone can close the income gap required for a decent standard of living.
The analysis found that prior to implementing regenerative practices, typical coffee-farming households in all seven countries—Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam—earned less than the living income benchmark. According to the report, the gap was most severe in Peru and Indonesia, where households earned just 26% of the benchmark, while Vietnam had the smallest deficit, with households earning 81% of the required income.
According to the report's modeling, adopting regenerative agriculture could enable farmers in Ethiopia and Vietnam to surpass the living income threshold. However, the study emphasizes that farmgate price is a critical variable. A 25% price increase, combined with regenerative practices, would also lift Honduran farmers over the threshold, while a 25% price decrease would largely erase any gains. The findings suggest that while agronomic improvements are beneficial, they must be paired with stable and fair procurement practices to meaningfully improve farmer livelihoods.