IDH 2024 Annual Report: Better Environment

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Linking Social and Environmental Agendas for Impact

The case for a better environment

Driven by rising temperatures, 2024 was marked by extreme weather events that severely impacted socioeconomic development, especially in rural areas where most food is grown. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported over 600 such events, including 148 classified as "unprecedented," leading to human displacement, food insecurity and biodiversity loss.

Agricultural value chains, which are the primary source of income for many disadvantaged farmers and workers, contribute significantly to environmental degradation and deforestation, further exacerbating climate change. According to the OECD, food production (including pre-production and post-production activities) accounts for 21-37% of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

At the same time, research shows that agricultural productivity in the global south is as much as 35% lower than it would be without climate change. This has a negative effect on farmers – who are seeing their yields and incomes decline, companies – who increasingly need to deal with volatile supply and price fluctuations, and consumers – who are confronted with sudden consumer price increases.

The complex interconnectivity of climate change, environmental degradation and social inequality means that these issues need to be addressed as part of one system. IDH works towards a better environment through this integrated approach – linking social and environmental agendas to transform agricultural markets that support thriving communities in net zero, regenerative agricultural systems.

This includes helping farmers transition to climate-resilient practices, developing regenerative, low-carbon and deforestation-free landscapes, promoting chemical waste reduction and the use of pesticides, and linking global markets to sustainable sourcing.

Reducing carbon footprints in the agri-food sector

Collective action is essential to reducing the intense carbon emissions of global food production. But it is vital that systems change is implemented across the entire value chain – from traders and retailers changing their business practices to ensuring farmers have the necessary tools to create a better environment. IDH developed the Environmental Footprint Roadmap to help companies in the agri-commodities sector understand their footprint and identify strategies to reduce it. Aligning with the Science Based Targets (SBTi), the roadmap outlines five key steps through which companies can progress to address environmental challenges, promote sustainability, and protect natural resources.

Visit the RoadmapVisit the Roadmap

What’s happening through our partnerships

*Cumulative results for 2024 against the 2021-2025 funding cycle

Building resilience through Landscapes

Value chain approaches alone are insufficient to tackle climate disruptions and environmental degradation. To address the problem at the root, IDH identifies that this value chain work needs to be complemented with landscape-level action, where businesses collaborate with governments, civil society organisations, investors, and even competitors. This approach allows for pooling large investments, creating an enabling policy environment, and connecting to markets.

A landscape approach, also known as a jurisdictional or integrated landscape approach, is a framework for inclusive and multi-sectoral land use management and territorial development. It integrates local or state governments, private companies, civil society, producers, smallholders, NGOs, and relevant stakeholders into the inclusive governance structure for that area, whether geographical or administrative.

IDH's landscape approach operates at national, global and field levels through the PPI approach: production, protection and inclusion. This is supported by interventions such as green growth planning, PPI compacts, landscape governance, and market linkages. PPI compacts are agreements between public, private and civil society stakeholders to make land more productive and improve livelihoods, in exchange for protection of natural resources, most notably forests.

The compacts are the basis for investors to invest in the landscapes and for regional sourcing by supply chain companies. This involves developing innovative ways to finance initiatives and reducing project risk by enhancing investment readiness and turning Sustainable Land Management into an asset class. To link landscape coalitions with markets and help bring them to scale, IDH created SourceUp, a platform for companies and stakeholders in producing regions to work together on sustainable agri-commodity sourcing.

Climate Disrupted Agriculture in Focus

The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action (FPC) is a collective of 22 of the world’s largest consumer goods retailers and manufacturers with an ambition to transform an area equivalent to their combined production-base footprint into forest positive by 2030. The FPC currently supports 25 landscape initiatives in critical commodity production regions. The Forest Positive Coalition of Action adopted SourceUp as its public reporting platform in 2024 to advance its mission to eliminate deforestation, forest conversion, and degradation from commodity supply chains.

Together with the Forest Positive Coalition (FPC) from the Consumer Goods Forum (CGP), IDH organised an event during Climate Week 2024 for participants from across sectors to discuss innovative solutions and share experiences on fostering resilience in global food systems.

The event Responding to Climate Disruptions in Agriculture: Landscape Approaches for Resilient Farms and Forests included the speakers Emily Kunen (Senior Director Agriculture & Forests at Pepsico), Kevin Rabinovitch (Chief Climate Officer at Mars), Nienke Stam (Director Restoration Finance & Capacity at WRI) and Daan Wensing (CEO of IDH).

The discussions produced key insights on climate disruptions in agriculture including:

Climate change is driving companies to adjust procurement strategies. Historically, businesses managed supply chain risks by diversifying sourcing regions. However, simultaneous climate disruptions now require longer-term, resilient relationships with farmers to invest in sustainable practices.

Regenerative agriculture and forest protection contribute to resilient farms. Regenerative practices such as agroforestry, crop rotation, and cover crops can improve soil health and yield and positively impact farmers' incomes.

Landscape approaches are key to scaling climate-resilient solutions. Companies are increasingly recognising the benefits of adopting a landscape approach and are seeking a common reference point to identify active landscapes, find investment opportunities and connect with stakeholders.

Farmers need to be supported to implement resilient solutions. Supporting farmers with technology, training, and fair pricing ensures sustainable production and stable incomes.

Better Environment in Action

Program highlights from 2024

Promoting sustainable cattle ranching in the Amazon

Cattle ranching is a major contributor to deforestation in Brazil, especially in the Amazon biome. To tackle this, IDH has partnered with private sector partners such as Mars Petcare and Marfrig to create the Sustainable Production of Calves Program. Active in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará, the initiative provides support for 700 small cattle ranchers, aiming to conserve over 290K hectares of forest and implement sustainable practices in more than 95K hectares of pasture. So far, the program has included over 200,000 animals in a traceability system as a crucial step in reducing deforestation and supporting sustainable cattle ranching in Brazil. In 2024, 393 new producers were included in the program. In addition to receiving technical assistance, this new cycle addressed the carbon agenda and its opportunities, as well as facilitating access to credit. The program was also selected to be the pilot initiative for the blueprint framework being developed by the Consumer Goods Forum and the Forest Positive Coalition for beef in Brazil.

Overcoming investment barriers in Colombia

Investment is essential for market transformation, yet many sustainable development projects lack adequate financing. IDH Invest works on solutions to address significant gaps in the market by mobilising a blend of public and private capital to achieve impactful projects. In 2024, IDH launched its first Investment Development Hub in Colombia. reVive focuses on creating innovative financing mechanisms and investment models tailored to overcome systemic barriers. By aligning the interests of key stakeholders, the hub facilitates targeted investments that drive sustainable growth and improve livelihoods across agricultural value chains. The expected impact of reVive includes scalable solutions for equitable value distribution, enhanced farm productivity, and improved worker welfare, ultimately fostering more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agricultural systems worldwide.

Watch the launch of reViveWatch the launch of reVive

Supporting Cameroon's national plan to tackle deforestation

With over 40% of its land still forested, Cameroon is vital to global biodiversity. However, cocoa-driven deforestation poses a significant threat, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices. In 2024, Cameroon reinforced its commitment to sustainable cocoa production by launching the National Action Plan for Sustainable Cocoa. Coordinated by the Sustainable Cocoa Platform, this ambitious plan developed by public, private and civil society partners addresses critical challenges like deforestation and producer inequality through 11 key actions, including forest conservation, sustainable production, and social inclusion. IDH’s long-standing support since 2018 in deforestation-free cocoa laid the groundwork for this achievement. In 2024, IDH and the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC), formalized their collaboration the Platform’s Technical Secretariat and ensuring the long-term management of the platform. The plan sets Cameroon on a path to becoming a global leader in deforestation-free, inclusive cocoa production.

Case Study

Towards inclusive EUDR implementation

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) represents a critical step in combating global deforestation, offering an enabling regulatory framework to protect the world’s forests. However, as companies adapt to meet EUDR’s requirements, the risk of excluding smallholder farmers from European value chains looms. A truly effective EUDR implementation must go beyond excluding deforestation-related products from the EU market—it must support forest conservation in production areas while ensuring smallholder farmers remain engaged in EU value chains.

Since 2022, IDH has played a pivotal role in addressing these challenges. Initially providing recommendations to improve the regulation, the organisation has shifted its efforts to implementing practical, inclusive solutions that bring public and private stakeholders together. As a broker of collaborative solutions, facilitator of public-private partnerships, and provider of actionable insights, IDH is working to ensure that compliance with EUDR does not come at the expense of the most vulnerable farmers.

Vietnam: Leading the Way with a Jurisdictional Approach

Vietnam offers a flagship example of how IDH is addressing EUDR compliance challenges through a jurisdictional landscape approach. In the Central Highlands—home to 95% of Vietnam’s coffee production—IDH has been implementing a landscape program since 2015 to safeguard forests, manage water sustainably, and reduce agrochemical use.

In response to EUDR, IDH leveraged its landscape program to facilitate the formation of a public-private consortium to tackle traceability, forest monitoring, and deforestation-free supply chain requirements. This consortium, comprising the Vietnamese government, international coffee companies, and other stakeholders, is a model of pre-competitive collaboration designed to align resources and ensure cost-effective EUDR compliance.

Key outcomes include the creation of a forest reference map which aligns with the EUDR cut-off date, and a coffee plot database with individual farm geolocation, including a traceability system that supports coffee traceability from farm to middlemen. Piloted in four districts, these tools will soon be scaled nationally, offering a blueprint for other countries.

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The effective implementation of the EUDR in Vietnam is crucial to ensuring access to EU markets, including the Dutch, while promoting sustainable, deforestation-free production. The development of this database system is a vital step in this process, offering an effective and inclusive solution that supports transparency, smallholder inclusion, and low-cost compliance...

Mr Kaj van de Vorstenbosch– Climate team, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

With strong partnership of the Netherlands and Vietnam in agriculture sector, we, via the public and private facilitation role of organizations like IDH, can drive meaningful progress, ensuring a sustainable and resilient future for Vietnam’s coffee sector.

Mr Kaj van de Vorstenbosch– Climate team, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Scaling solutions across the globe in 2024

Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana: Enhancing Cocoa Traceability

In 2024, IDH worked to improve cocoa traceability in Côte d'Ivoire by helping to integrate national and private systems. This involved collaborating with cocoa companies and farmer cooperatives to complete a farmer census (targeting 5000 farmers), pilot the sharing of databases, and verifying deforestation alerts. The project's goal is to reinforce the credibility of the national traceability system, supporting cocoa sector compliance with European and African sustainability standards.

In Ghana, IDH began field testing the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System with 16,000 farmers in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and several cocoa companies. This publicprivate partnership aims to ensure compliance with sustainability standards by improving cocoa segregation practices and preventing circumvention. The overall aim is to build unified, scalable systems that protect forests and improve livelihoods, while building mutual trust among key actors.

Uganda: Building Capacity for Compliance in the coffee sector

In 2024, IDH collaborated with key partners in the Ugandan coffee industry to prepare for compliance. Partnering with the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and Café Africa, IDH helped design a national action plan aligned with EUDR and CSDDD requirements.

Efforts include awareness campaigns and the integration of advanced traceability technology into existing farmer networks, such as the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance (UCFA). By prioritising cost-effective compliance solutions, IDH ensures that Uganda’s smallholder farmers remain competitive and integral to global supply chains.

Malaysia: Innovative EUDR Solutions for Palm Oil

In Malaysia, IDH is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board to meet EU deforestation regulations by the end of 2025. In 2024, a program was piloted to build mapping efforts and improve traceability for smallholders through the National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate-smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS 2).

Leveraging the mandatory Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification framework, the project works towards building smallholder inclusion models with assurance by MSPO on deforestation and legality compliance at a landscape level. Once successfully piloted, the project aims to expand the model to all 162 Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOCs) managed by MPOB nationwide, ensuring long-term compliance and resilience in the palm oil sector.

Brazil: Adapting the Calves Protocol for Beef and Leather

In Brazil, IDH commissioned a study to analyse what’s needed to adapt a Protocol for the sustainable Production of Calves to meet EUDR standards for beef and leather exports. This protocol uses ear tag identification and blockchain technology to enhance supply chain transparency.

Additional measures, such as third-party audits and farm transition documentation, ensure products meet deforestation-free criteria. With Brazil’s leather industry exporting 25% of its production to the EU, aligning with EUDR is crucial for maintaining access to this key market.

Preparing for the Future

In addition to these ongoing efforts, IDH is gearing up to launch new initiatives in India, Cameroon, and Colombia in 2025. These programs will build on the insights and successes from, among others, Vietnam, tailoring approaches to the specific challenges of each region.

As EUDR implementation progresses, IDH’s global efforts offer a vital roadmap for creating equitable, inclusive, and deforestation-free supply chains.

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