Dimitra, a global leader in agricultural technology and sustainability solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with National Coffee Cooperative Union (NACCU), a Kenyan umbrella body and national coffee cooperative union, representing over a million smallholder farmers across Kenya. Together, they are launching a nationwide system that integrates environmental compliance assessment, carbon accounting, and ESG practices across Kenya’s coffee value chain, supporting access to premium markets such as the European Union, where EUDR compliance is increasingly required.
Expected to come into effect on December 31, 2025, EUDR is set to reshape the landscape of global agricultural exports and require all coffee exports, among other commodities entering the European Union (EU) to be deforestation-free and fully traceable. Compliance involves providing GPS coordinates, forest cover data, and legal documentation for each plot of land where coffee is grown. With the EU accounting for over 50% of Kenya’s coffee exports, the pressure from European buyers is already clear: they increasingly demand evidence of EUDR compliance as a condition for purchase. As a result, non-compliance poses a significant risk to the country’s coffee sector. For smallholder farmers, many of whom lack access to digital tools and compliance systems, meeting these requirements poses a major challenge.
Dimitra and NACCU’s joint initiative aims to close this gap in a timely manner. Leveraging Dimitra’s state-of-the-art AI-driven AgTech solutions, including its Connected Coffee application, the 1+ million farmers across NACCU’s associated unions will be empowered to register their farms, digitally map their land with geolocation data, complete deforestation risk surveys, and generate EUDR-aligned compliance reports. The application will also provide registered farmers with mobile-based onboarding and technical support, ensuring access in key coffee-producing areas including Meru, Kipkelion, Kiambu, Nyeri, and Mt. Elgon.
This agreement was formally signed during a meeting on Friday, September 26, with the participation of NACCU’s Board of Directors and several Unions. The active involvement of the Unions demonstrates the strong interest and commitment of local actors, while NACCU provides strategic support at the national level, showing that Kenya Farmers continue with a strong focus on compliance and sustainability across the sector.
Jon Trask, CEO of Dimitra, expressed delight at the partnership’s potential: “EUDR will completely reshape the global coffee trade for the better, and Kenya is stepping up to meet the challenge. This partnership with NACCU not only prepares farmers and cooperatives for compliance with European environmental standards, it also advances Kenya’s broader goals of aligning agricultural exports with international sustainability frameworks, expanding opportunities in carbon and ESG markets, strengthening local livelihoods, and safeguarding access to high-value markets.. Dimitra is excited to help support Kenyan coffee competitiveness and sustainability efforts while encouraging and facilitating EUDR compliance.”
Farmer inclusion is of paramount importance, and through this partnership, Dimitra and NACCU aim to bring immediate impact. Onboarding farmers through offline-capable mobile apps, which are available in English and Swahili, the initiative ensures that even the most remote producers can participate and benefit from these global market opportunities.
Mr. Festus Bett, CEO of NACCU, said: “In a time when digital exclusion threatens to widen inequality in global trade, this partnership demonstrates that with the right technology and grassroots coordination, it is possible to bring millions of smallholder farmers into global compliance and build a more compliant coffee value chain. By empowering Kenya’s coffee farmers with the right tools and training needed to comply with the EU’s Deforestation Regulation, we are not only securing their access to a key export market but also reinforcing our commitment towards building more sustainable and transparent agricultural value chains. Partnering with Dimitra empowers us to bring this vision to life across our vast network.”