The Waters of the Cerrado Consortium unites coffee growers, producers, researchers and environmentalists in maintaining ecosystem services on which agricultural supply chains including coffee depend. Its focus is conservation and restoration of native vegetation in Brazil’s Minas Gerais State to safeguard water supplies. The Cerrado, in the country’s central highland plains, is a major source of water for Brazil.

The consortium works with stakeholders across the coffee supply chain focusing initially on a pilot site – the Feio watershed in Patrocinio, a major coffee growing area. Efforts are under way to improve soil and water management; promote information and knowledge exchange through outreach services for farmers; and promote legal compliance on farms, including applying Brazil’s Forest Code at the landscape level.