BioDiversal and Cirkular run a Coffee Biochar Programme with thousands of smallholder farmers across Colombia, supported by IDH. We structured the project to work as a corporate supply-chain insetting opportunity.
The programme runs through farmer cooperatives that coordinate implementation at the group level. We validated traceability systems that track biochar from individual farms through to final batches, suggested labour and safety protocols, and validated value-sharing models where climate benefits stay in the supply chain while farmers receive payments or share in cost savings.
We reviewed and optimised operating procedures for the standardisation of how feedstock gets managed, kilns are run, and how char is handled after production. We identified comparative benchmarks for decentralised biochar production kilns to ensure stable heat and proper carbonisation that meet corporate expectations for high-integrity, durable carbon removal.
We structured the programme around regional clusters that position training, oversight, and logistics where coffee is grown and processed. We designed monitoring systems that keep data collection simple for farmers while feeding information into central reporting formatted for ICVCM, SBTi, and CSI.
We subsequently designed a financing structure for a three-phase rollout involving pilot sites, verified replication, and landscape scaling. Each phase depended on supplier readiness, MRV capacity, and investor profile and interest.
We assessed the programme against high-integrity frameworks like ICVCM, VCMI, CCQI, and SBTi to identify where artisanal biochar systems typically struggle. Challenges that need to be addressed include inconsistent traceability, proving additionality through documentation that most farmers typically don’t produce, and durability claims that need scientific backing. We identified what needed to be improved and built safeguards around leakage risks, operational safety, and benefit distribution to farmers.
We mapped the buyer landscape and found three segments most interested in smallholder biochar in coffee supply chains. These were companies pursuing supply-chain insetting, premium removal buyers seeking high-quality credits, and organisations that value social co-benefits alongside carbon impact. Each segment cares about different attributes, which we used to define where demand exists for financing biochar scaling.
We outlined the financing mechanisms that typically scale smallholder biochar programmes. These include blended finance, corporate pre-purchases, donor support for building MRV capacity, and incremental funding tied to programme maturity. We identified funder and buyer expectations and profiles and made strategic recommendations for IDH, BioDiversal and Cirkular.
All parties involved now have a clear pathway for scaling their coffee biochar programme, including which buyers to approach, how financing works, and what operational foundations need to be in place.
