Kenya is undertaking an ambitious geo-mapping project to comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), a policy that mandates all agricultural products exported to the EU such as coffee must not be linked to deforestation. The deadline for compliance has been extended to December 30, 2025, giving Kenya and other exporting nations a narrow window to meet strict environmental and traceability requirements.
The EUDR requires producers to verify that commodities like coffee, cocoa, soy, beef, and wood are not sourced from land deforested after December 31, 2020. To achieve this, all relevant agricultural exports must be traceable to non-deforested land, supported by verifiable data.
In response, Kenya has launched a nationwide geo-mapping exercise targeting all land under coffee cultivation. The initiative, spearheaded by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), aims to use satellite imagery and digital tools to establish a detailed traceability system for coffee farms. Currently, 30% of the country’s total coffee area equivalent to 32,688 hectares has already been mapped across 16 of the 33 coffee-growing counties. The goal is to complete mapping of the remaining 70% within the next two months.
The EUDR Data Committee, a multi-agency task force comprising entities such as the State Department for Agriculture, Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Space Agency, and the Directorate of Remote Survey and Remote Sensing, is supporting the mapping efforts. Their objective is to align Kenya’s coffee production system with EU sustainability standards without disrupting farmer livelihoods or export flows.
Kenya exports 95% of its coffee, and over half of that goes to the EU. In the past five years alone, Kenya has exported over 122,000 metric tonnes of coffee to Europe, earning nearly USD 700 million. This heavy dependence on the EU market underscores the importance of compliance.
With 70% of the country’s coffee grown by smallholder farmers, failure to meet EUDR standards could have devastating consequences for rural economies. The ongoing geo-mapping project is, therefore, not just a trade requirement it is a lifeline for thousands of households that depend on coffee farming.
This swift and coordinated government action signals a clear commitment to sustainable agriculture and preserving Kenya’s place in the global coffee trade.
