Carble’s Updated Methodology

In Episode #11 of the Carblecast, Sander Reuderink, CEO at Carble, explains the Carble methodology for rewarding carbon storage in shade-grown commodities, which describes the procedures for rewarding the protection of existing shade canopies in coffee and cocoa agroforestry farms. Watch the short intro here, read the blog underneath, and download the entire methodology here.

To understand why we’ve created the methodology for rewarding carbon storage in shade-grown commodities, we need to jump ten years back in time - during Sander’s first visit to Ethiopia’s coffee regions.

“When I met the first farmer there who showed me his coffee farm, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand what I was looking at because I only saw a forest instead of neat rows of coffee trees”, Sander explains.

The farmer explained to Sander that this is how they’ve been growing coffee for generations: under the shade of the forest canopy - and without chemical inputs. After learning this and taking it to heart, Sander always remained intrigued by this conversation.

Years later, Sander started to dive into academic literature on coffee agroforestry. He discovered that the ancient way of growing coffee under shade cover has many benefits: it enhances coffee quality, improves carbon storage, and helps biodiversity flourish. 

Inspired by these papers, Sander started Carble and built a solid methodology that financially rewards farmers for protecting invaluable shade cover.

What does the Methodology contain?

Carble’s methodology for rewarding carbon storage in shade-grown commodities describes the procedures for rewarding the protection of existing shade canopies in coffee and cocoa agroforestry farms. Within our Methodology, you will learn how we:

• quantify the difference in net carbon emissions from reduced above- and below-ground biomass, between the baseline scenario and actual farmer performance,
• quantify results-based payments to farmers,
• estimate the change in shade-tree biomass by direct measurements through satellite imagery - calibrated on field measurements.

Download the methodology here to read how we achieve this.

Do you have questions after watching the episodes, or reading through the blog? Please fill out the form, and we will contact you as soon as possible.