Rainforest Alliance Certification

🌱 Social & Environmental Impact of Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

Strict pesticide controls

Bans 150+ highly hazardous pesticides (including paraquat and glyphosate)

Requires farms to prioritise Integrated Pest Management (IPM) — using natural predators, shade trees, and soil health instead of chemicals.

Where chemicals are used, only low toxicity options are allowed, and workers must have protective gear & training.

Cleaner environment & biodiversity protection

Reduced agrochemical use helps protect soil organisms, pollinators, and local wildlife.

Certified farms are required to maintain or plant shade trees, creating biodiversity corridors that support birds, bees, and other pollinators.

Example: In Colombia, RA farms had cleaner streams and more aquatic biodiversity compared to non-certified farms.

Water & soil conservation

Lower pesticide run-off = safer rivers and drinking water for local communities.

Certified farms must protect waterways with riparian buffer zones and manage soil to reduce erosion.

In Mount Kenya (2024), RA programmes planted 106,300 trees and restored 106 hectares of degraded land.

Farmer & worker safety

No child or forced labour allowed; farms must comply with local wage laws.

Training and PPE requirements reduce pesticide exposure risk.

Benefits 7.9 million farmers & workers worldwide through safer and fairer farming systems.

Improved livelihoods & incomes

Certified farmers receive Sustainability Differentials (extra payments per kg/lb) and Sustainability Investments from buyers.

In East Africa, certified smallholders earned 179% higher coffee income than non-certified farmers.

Global scale & reach

1.9 million coffee farmers & workers across 29 countries produce RA-certified coffee.

333 million cups of RA-certified coffee are drunk every day worldwide.

6+ million hectares of farmland under certification are managed with stricter pesticide and sustainability standards.

✅ In short: Rainforest Alliance certification means less toxic pesticide use, safer farms for workers, healthier ecosystems, and stronger farmer livelihoods — while producing higher-quality, more sustainable coffee for consumers.