Nespresso will invest 20 million dollars by 2026 to revive special coffee in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is announced by Nestlé, the multinational company that owns the Nespresso brand that, on its website, emphasizes how the investment will cover the purchase of coffee, price premiums, technical assistance, Community projects and support to help coffee farmers access global markets. 

Nespresso’s ambition, the official statement said, "is also to help raise another 20 million dollars to support coffee-growing communities in Kivu, DRC: "the initiative is part of the Nespresso Reviving Origins programme, created 10 years ago, which aims to restore coffee production in regions where it is threatened".

In 1980, coffee was the second most important export of the African Republic and the coffee of this country was among the best in the world: the supply decreased in the early 2000s due to years of instability that had a devastating impact on the sector. The launch in 2020 of the Nespresso Reviving Origins program in the DRC helped relaunch coffee production in the Lake Kivu region.

Nespresso’s sustainable coffee sourcing program, the Nespresso AAA Sustainable QualityTM Program, underpins the work of the Reviving Origins program: For 20 years, the company’s note stresses, "The AAA Program builds strong relationships with coffee farmers around the world to protect nature and life in the landscapes where coffee is grown and to strengthen the resilience of communities". 

"Nespresso -continues the note- will further implement the AAA Program in the Democratic Republic of Congo and will support farmers in the implementation of regenerative practices, such as crop diversification, the planting of strains, improvement of soil health and agroforestry". Through the AAA Program, Nespresso will also implement a biodiversity monitoring tool using the unique bird life of the DRC.

"Kivu has the potential to be among the great coffee regions of the world, but in recent years it has faced extremely difficult conditions -explains Guillaume Le Cunff, ceo of Nespresso-. Through our Reviving Origins program, we work closely with Congolese growers. To restore and revitalize Kivu as the main source of exceptional, high-quality Arabica coffee, we have joined forces with several partners, including the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI)/Asili, TechnoServe, USAID, namely the US Agency for International Development, the GEF, namely the Global Fund for the Environment, Clarmondial, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Virunga Coffee".