Using geospatial data for EUDR compliance

Over the past year, AidData has partnered with the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) to explore the effectiveness of difference approaches to collecting plot boundaries and assessing deforestation in order to identify cost-effective methods for EUDR compliance. The initial phase of our work has focused on the coffee sector in Honduras and involved collaboration with numerous in-country partners and Early Action initiatives supporting compliance efforts, as well as providers of deforestation detection solutions.

AidData and COSA will attend the 2026 African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to share the findings of our research with critical actors in the coffee sector. You can find a draft copy of the report on these finding below, as well as a copy of the slides from our presentation.

• DRAFT REPORT PDF
• AFCA SLIDES

Notable findings include:

• Consumer smartphone GPS can provide sufficient precision for plot boundary data collection when paired with consistent procedures. Dedicated, expensive GPS units are not critical.
• No deforestation detection solution is perfect. Understanding the benefits and drawbacks to specific sources of satellite imagery or deforestation models can inform proper application. Validation is also essential, and can involve a combination of human review of satellite imagery, field work, or even the use of drones.
• Most coffee farms are not in areas critical for conservation (i.e., mature tropical moist forests) and resources can be targets to use more intensive methods and validation where it is most valuable.