Project High Nature Value
FAF Coffees has developed an indicator to measure the level of sustainability of farms.
When
Project started in June 2024
Where
Mococa, Brazil
Who
FAF Coffees
Presentation of the project
Felipe tells us about the birth of the HNV indicator
"We have been seeking answers to some questions for a long time:
How to become sustainable? How sustainable is each farm?
We now have a solution: High Nature Value. This indicator appeared initially as a form of internal language for talking with farmers about their sustainability and ways of gradually moving towards more regenerative management."
Putting sustainability at the centre
"Our role in this industry is to inspire and encourage all the stakeholders involved to move towards a model of agriculture that is good for everyone. By this we mean a regenerative way of farming that regenerates our world. The first step is to clearly define these concepts and put in place a team capable of achieving such a feat. To begin with, we are not coffee hunters, we see ourselves as a partner in their development, and FAF Coffees now operates in 15 communities across three Brazilian states."
HNV as a support tool
"We have our own experimental farm, Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, where we test new concepts and create our own formulas. We have set up an incredible team of agronomists, with also people in charge of relations, a cupping laboratory team, a purchasing team and a sales team.
The objectives of this team are:
- to help coffee growers define shared objectives
- to teach them how to achieve them
- to help them find sales outlets
- to communicate and educate customers about what we do"
Felipe Croce, Founder and Director of FAF Coffees
Complete documentation
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THE DIFFERENT LEVELS DECIPHERED
HNV level 0 = Asleep
This is what we currently call conventional monoculture. It makes use of an agronomic “technology package” created since the agricultural revolution, where macro-nutrients (8 main macro-nutrients) are brought in from outside the farm, often synthetically, and applied two or three times a year, on the assumption that all the plants’ needs are covered by these external inputs. The specifics may vary, but conventional coffee monoculture relies on an average of 5 fungicide sprays, 6 herbicide sprays and 5 pesticide sprays per year, as well as use of sterilising agents such as potassium chloride. This type of agriculture is the status quo in Brazil, and to a large extent worldwide, for coffee and for our food systems as a whole.
HNV level 1 = Awake
This is step one. We focus first on keeping the ground covered. In nature, soil is never uncovered, only as a result of human intervention. Uncovered ground is like an exposed wound. We start by increasing the soil’s organic matter, its porosity and the biodiversity of plants and animals.
HNV level 2 = Aware
At this point, we begin to focus on eliminating chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, and we introduce organic solutions. We work to rebuild degraded soils and increase soil organic matter. By adding trees, we begin to provide food for the soil’s fungal network and to increase the inputs generated by trees. We see an increase in the biodiversity of pollinators, birds and animals in coffee plots and a reduction in evapotranspiration thanks to more windbreaks.
HNV level 3 = In action
Here, we officially begin the type of management supported by FAF Coffees: polyculture farming with trees. Coffee farming in a tropical climate is intrinsically dependent on trees. Trees feed the system through their roots, leaves, pruning and wood decay. Carbon sequestration increases exponentially to more than 40 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, and the coffee plants can be nourished by the soil’s microbial system. At level zero, the coffee is nourished by 8 macro-nutrients, compared with over 50 micro- and macro-nutrients at level three. They are the source of our nutrition, “the food that our food eats”. From this last level onwards, the coffee that we consume (and a host of other products, from wood to fruit) is sourced from a healthy soil. And a healthy soil means healthy people.
