Myanmar. Optimize the green coffee supply chain

WHERE

Region: Southern Chin State
Districts: Mindat and Kanpetlet
Sector: Food security, agriculture and pastoralism

CONTEXT

Myanmar holds significant untapped potential in specialty coffee production. Despite recent cupping trials rating natural green coffee from the Chin region as excellent in quality, smallholder families remain unable to access profitable local or international markets.

Coffee farmers apply semi-natural cultivation methods that enhance quality and environmental sustainability, yet lack adequate post-harvest processing and preservation techniques. This compromises the final product and drives continued deforestation through itinerant farming practices.

The project responds to these structural barriers — identified through long-term field collaboration and dedicated studies — with a focus on vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth in remote rural communities.

OBJECTIVES

General Objective
Promote sustainable rural development by reducing itinerant farming, out-migration, and loss of mountain forest resources in Southern Chin State.

Specific Objective
Increase employment and income opportunities for rural communities in remote areas through the strengthening of the coffee supply chain — with a special focus on women and youth — and by securing sustainable access to local and international markets.
 

ACTIVITIES

• Support 80 landless families to start agricultural activities.
• Establish nurseries of certified Arabica coffee varieties.
• Conduct phytopathological study on coffee diseases.
• Train farmers on Good Agricultural Practices, post-harvest processing and quality control.
• Build 20 primary processing centres and 1 secondary collection and processing centre.
• Carry out a national and international market study for Chin coffee.
• Organise 2 seminars and 3 B2B meetings at local, regional and national level.
• Organise 3 promotional events to boost local market visibility.
• Train 4 technicians on marketing and commercialisation.
• Identify 3 complementary supply chains (non-wood forest products) and train 250 producers on diversified production and sales.

BENEFICIARIES

Direct beneficiaries
• 619 farmers trained on resilient nursery techniques, Good Agricultural Practices and Climate Smart Agriculture
• 2 technicians from the Department of Agriculture

Indirect beneficiaries 
• 3,105 people (household members and community members)

Priority focus on women, youth, and landless families in remote areas of Mindat and Kanpetlet districts.
 

PARTNERS

 K'Cho Land Development Association (COLDA) — local implementing partner with long-standing presence in the Chin context
• Progetto Continenti Onlus — Italian co-funding and technical partner
• ASIA (lead organisation) — project coordination and implementation

PROJECT FUNDED BY

Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo