Artificial intelligence and advanced agricultural science are increasingly being combined with traditional farmer knowledge to strengthen the resilience of coffee production in Vietnam, as Nestlé’s Nescafé Plan 2030 promotes regenerative agriculture practices across the country’s major coffee-growing regions.
In Dak Lak Province, part of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, the initiative is focusing on improving soil health, biodiversity and farm resilience as coffee growers face increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, including droughts and heavy rainfall.
According to Pham Phu Ngoc, Agricultural Sustainable Development Manager at Nestlé Vietnam, healthy coffee farms can be identified through visible indicators such as soil covered by cover crops or mulch, the presence of earthworms and greater biodiversity, including butterflies and insects.
Healthy soil can retain water during dry periods, improve drainage during heavy rainfall, support biodiversity and contribute to carbon sequestration. For coffee farmers, these characteristics can also help protect yields and farm productivity against increasingly variable climatic conditions.
The approach under the Nescafé Plan 2030 combines scientific agricultural practices with the experience and knowledge of coffee farmers. The focus is on helping growers adopt regenerative farming techniques that can improve soil health while supporting the long-term productivity of coffee plantations.
Vietnam is the world's largest producer of robusta coffee and the second-largest coffee exporter overall. The Central Highlands, including Dak Lak, account for a significant share of the country's coffee production. Coffee exports generated more than $3.5 billion in revenue during the first four months of 2026, highlighting the economic importance of the sector.
Vietnam's coffee industry has expanded significantly over the past four decades, establishing the country as a major player in the global coffee supply chain. However, climate change is creating new challenges for growers, with rising temperatures, droughts, intense rainfall and shifting weather patterns threatening agricultural productivity.
Robusta coffee generally performs best at temperatures of around 22–28°C, while increasing temperatures can affect both yield and quality. Global research has also indicated that climate change could substantially reduce the land suitable for coffee cultivation by 2050.
Against this backdrop, regenerative agriculture is emerging as an important strategy for maintaining coffee production while improving the health of agricultural ecosystems. Practices such as maintaining ground cover, using mulch, integrating shade trees and supporting biodiversity can help improve soil structure and water management while reducing the vulnerability of farms to climatic stresses.
The experience in Dak Lak demonstrates how traditional agricultural knowledge, scientific approaches and large-scale sustainability programmes can work together to strengthen the resilience of a critical global commodity.
As climate pressures intensify, initiatives such as the Nescafé Plan 2030 could play a growing role in helping coffee-producing regions transition from conventional production models towards more regenerative and climate-resilient agricultural systems.
