Ethiopia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has launched the FOLUR project, a $20.8 million initiative to combat deforestation and enhance sustainability in the coffee value chain. Implemented across four regions, namely Oromia, Sidama, Central Ethiopia, and the Southwest region, the project focuses on preventing forest loss, promoting restoration, and integrating sustainability into key sectors. Running from 2023 to 2031, FOLUR aligns with Ethiopia's National Integrated Land Use Policy, emphasizing comprehensive land management. Objectives include avoiding 7,288,195 tons of carbondioxide emissions, improving livelihoods for four hundred forty thousand people, restoring unproductive coffee gardens, managing Afromontane Forest, and bringing 2 million hectares under improved land use practices.
During the launch, Ethiopia's Minister of Planning and Development emphasized the government's commitment to large-scale tree planting through the Green Legacy initiative. The FOLUR project addresses challenges of deforestation exacerbated by climate change and population pressures, contributing to national policies and aligning with Ethiopia's environmental strategies. As Africa's largest coffee producer and the world's fifth-largest exporter of Arabica coffee, Ethiopia's FOLUR project aims to safeguard the country's vital coffee sector.