Division of Forest and Forest Resources
Optimizing Carbon, Soil Health and Yield in Coffee-Forest Systems as a Climate-Smart Land Management in Ethiopia (CoffeeLand)
End: dec 2029
Start: dec 2025
CoffeeLand is an interdisciplinary research project aimed at advancing climate-smart land management in Ethiopia’s coffee-forest systems, which are critical for biodiversity, livelihoods, and global Arabica coffee genetic resources. These systems support millions of smallholder farmers but are increasingly threatened by climate change, land-use pressure, and declining productivity.
Project participants
Misganu Debella-Gilo Ana Aza Johannes Rahlf Diress Tsegaye Alemu Christian Wilhelm Mohr
| Status | Active |
| Start - end date | 31.12.2025 - 30.12.2029 |
| Project manager | Belachew Gizachew Zeleke |
| Division | Division of Forest and Forest Resources |
| Department | Forest and Climate |
CoffeeLand focuses on four main research areas:
- Mapping coffee-forest extent and structure using advanced AI/ML and multi-sensor data fusion.
- Quantifying carbon stocks across coffee-forest systems to support climate mitigation and carbon accounting.
- Assessing the role of shade tree diversity and density in enhancing soil health, carbon sequestration, and coffee yield.
- Evaluating opportunities and barriers for carbon markets, including REDD+ and other climate finance mechanisms, to improve smallholder livelihoods.
By combining remote sensing, ecological field data, and socio-economic analysis, CoffeeLand will generate new scientific knowledge and deliver open-access geospatial tools and decision-support systems. These outputs will support policymakers, researchers, and farmers in optimizing coffee-forest management for climate resilience, carbon sequestration, and sustainable production.
The project contributes to global climate and development goals by positioning coffee-forest systems as a scalable nature-based solution, while strengthening Norway’s role in international climate and forest initiatives.