Supporting Coffee Traceability in Uganda
With the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) set to take effect on December 31, 2025, Uganda's coffee companies are not just ready - they are ahead of the curve.
The EUDR is part of the European Green Deal and is aimed at reducing the EU’s contribution to global deforestation. The new regulations require companies trading in cocoa, coffee, cattle, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood, including products derived from these commodities, to conduct extensive due diligence on their value chains to ensure the goods do not result from recent (post-December 31, 2020) deforestation, forest degradation or breaches of local environmental and social laws.
Attaining EUDR compliance requires meeting standards on land use rights, harvest legality, labour laws, environmental protection, and proof of traceability.
Since 2020, the Rebuild Facility - funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and International Climate Initiative (IKI) - has offered working capital financing to coffee and cocoa companies across West and East Africa. Building on its successes, Rebuild Facility expanded its support in October 2024 by launching a Technical Assistance (TA) facility. The Rebuild TA Facility provides targeted support in three focus areas:
Traceability and Regulation; enabling coffee and cocoa businesses to meet EUDR traceability requirements and track the movement of coffee and cocoa from the origins to the EU market.
Unlocking additional finance; supporting businesses to identify and access the right kind of finance to scale up their operations.
Strategy development and governance; strengthening the leadership and governance of the businesses to increase revenue and/or improve investor readiness.
This video spotlights the first two recipients of traceability and regulation support – Nyamirima Mutegaya Cooperative Society Ltd. and The Edge Trading – alongside local TA delivery partners ASIGMA and Eprod Solutions.
Through Rebuild Facility’s support and the technical knowledge of the delivery partners, Nyamirima and The Edge Trading have achieved full traceability, aligning with international standards and EUDR compliance requirements well ahead of the December 2025 deadline. Their success sets a benchmark for others in the industry to follow.
About the Rebuild Facility:
The Rebuild Facility provides interest-free working capital and technical assistance to sustainable coffee and cocoa companies, with the goal of protecting smallholder livelihoods, conserving tropical forests, and strengthening the private sector.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and is jointly implemented by Palladium International and Systemiq under the umbrella Regeneration Platform.
Regeneration is a partnership between Systemiq, the system change company, and Palladium, a global positive impact firm.