Assessment of Deforestation Detection Solutions to Support EUDR Compliance in Honduras

The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires importers of key commodities—including coffee, palm oil, and beef—to demonstrate that products were not produced on land that was recently deforested. But verifying compliance at the plot level poses significant operational challenges. The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) partnered with AidData to assess the accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and inclusiveness of using Earth Observation (EO) data and traceability systems for EUDR compliance among coffee producers in Central America.

Using a standardized analytical framework applied across three Early Action Initiatives in Honduras, this study examines how different approaches to farm georeferencing, EO data acquisition and processing, and related methodological choices affect compliance outcomes. It integrates benchmark-quality geospatial plot boundaries, multiple deforestation detection approaches, very high-resolution satellite imagery, drone-based validation, and a nationally representative socioeconomic survey of Honduran coffee farmers. Together, these data enable a comprehensive assessment of the practical opportunities, limitations, and trade-offs involved in implementing the EUDR deforestation-free requirements at the plot level. The findings from Central America provide a foundation for scaling EUDR compliance frameworks to more complex geographies and commodities.