How to decarbonize coffee? Look at fertilizers.

If you drink coffee every morning, you’re taking part in one of the most global supply chains on earth. Also, did you know that 40% of your coffee’s carbon footprint is from fertilizers?

Most of coffee’s emissions happen long before the beans even reach a roaster. A large part of its carbon footprint can be traced back to fertilizer production and application in coffee plantations. 

Regenerative agriculture dominates conversations about sustainable coffee. Shade-grown systems, agroforestry, and soil health practices are widely promoted. Those interventions matter. Fertilizer-related emissions are sometimes overlooked. Even though they are measurable, cost-effective to reduce, and central to decarbonizing coffee supply chains.

Downstream companies often assume these emissions are beyond their control. They’re not. Practical and accessible fertilizer-related interventions are already available to reduce fertilizer emissions at scale. They can fit naturally into existing farming systems. 

Why fertilizer emissions are missing from the conversation: cost and control

Fertilizers are an essential input for coffee production, but they’re also one of the largest sources of nitrous oxide (N₂O), a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 273 times higher than carbon dioxide over a century. 

So, why does fertilizer usage receive less attention than regenerative agriculture, deforestation, or social impact programs?

1. Many downstream actors feel far removed from farm-level decisions

Coffee changes hands several times before reaching exporters and roasters. Buyers often work through traders or aggregators with limited visibility into their upstream partner practices. As a result, fertilizer strategies feel out of reach.

2. Interventions seem unfamiliar or complex to non-agronomists

Supply chain and sustainability teams may know how to support agroforestry or training programs, but fertilizer optimization sounds more technical. It isn’t, but the perception persists.

3. Cost concerns and uncertainty over who pays

Many farm-level interventions require upfront investment. Even when the cost is low, the responsibility for financing is often unclear, especially in fragmented markets dominated by smallholders. We believe that farmers should not bear the cost alone.

4. Traceability challenges that make impact hard to track

It’s difficult to connect fertilizer use to specific coffee volumes without systems to capture field-level data. This has made companies hesitant to rely on fertilizer interventions in their Scope 3 strategies, even when the impact is clear.

5. The narrative has long focused on land use and deforestation

Coffee companies have spent years addressing deforestation. This remains important, but the emphasis on land use has overshadowed fertilizer-related emissions, which are sometimes treated as secondary despite their scale.

All of this has resulted in fertilizer interventions being underrepresented in sustainability strategies. Yet addressing fertilizer emissions is one of the fastest, most measurable ways for coffee companies to make progress.

Why Brazil and Vietnam reveal the scale of the opportunity

Brazil and Vietnam produce nearly half of the world’s coffee. They represent different farming systems, different regulatory environments, and different agronomic challenges, but they share a reliance on fertilizers and a need for scalable climate solutions.

By looking at these two origins, downstream actors can create a realistic picture of where fertilizer interventions can make an immediate difference.

Vietnam: high fertilizer intensity and water pressure

Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee, and production is highly fertilizer-dependent. Farmers often apply:

• Urea
• Phosphate fertilizers
• NPK blends

Fertilizer rates per hectare tend to be high, sometimes higher than crop needs. Combined with over-irrigation, this puts pressure on groundwater in the Central Highlands and increases nitrous oxide emissions from soils.

Vietnamese farms are also highly fragmented. Millions of smallholder producers manage small plots, each with different fertilizer practices. While this makes coordination challenging, it also highlights the potential: even modest fertilizer efficiency gains across such a large number of farms can deliver substantial reductions.

Brazil: scale, intensification, and climate stress

Brazil has coffee plantations spanning roughly 1.9 million hectares, with large farm sizes and an intensifying focus on irrigation. Fertilizer use is high, often involving nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, many of which are imported.

Brazil has also faced historic deforestation linked to agricultural expansion, though producers today operate under the Forest Code and increasingly invest in soil health, agroforestry, and water conservation.

What makes Brazil a standout for fertilizer solutions is the combination of:

• Strong yield orientation
• Increasing climate stress (especially droughts)
• Growing adoption of irrigation systems
• A willingness among many producers to adopt improved technologies

Brazil shows how fertilizer efficiency can operate at scale — benefiting both farmers and downstream buyers that source large, consistent volumes.

Which fertilizers are used most for coffee?

Across most coffee plantations, urea fertilizer is the primary nitrogen source. When urea is applied to soil, it can lead to:

• Direct emissions: N₂O released during nitrification and denitrification.
• Indirect emissions: volatilized ammonia that later contributes to N₂O formation.

Because urea breaks down quickly, much of its nitrogen can be lost rather than absorbed by plants. 

What are nitrogen stabilizers (inhibitors)?

Nitrogen stabilizers are agricultural additives applied alongside fertilizers to reduce nitrogen losses and lower emissions. There are two types of nitrogen stabilizers, urease inhibitors and nitrification inhibitors.

Urease inhibitors slow the breakdown of urea, cutting ammonia loss, while nitrification inhibitors delay the conversion of ammonium to nitrate, reducing leaching and nitrous oxide emissions. By keeping more nitrogen in the soil for crops to use, stabilizers boost efficiency and help cut unnecessary GHG emissions.

In coffee systems, nitrogen stabilizers can reduce N₂O emissions up to 50%, in some favorable cases this reduction can go up to 70%. 

Nitrogen stabilizers consistently demonstrate:

• Lower direct N₂O emissions
• Lower indirect emissions from volatilization
• Improved nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE)
• Stable or improved yields

From a practical implementation standpoint, stabilizers:

• Fit easily into existing fertilizer practices
• Require no major equipment changes
• Are relatively low cost per tonne of CO₂e avoided
• Can be adopted at both large and small scale

For downstream companies, stabilizers represent an intervention that is accessible, affordable and measurable.

What are Controlled-Release Fertilizers (CRFs)?

Controlled-release fertilizers are coated or engineered to release nutrients gradually, allowing plants to absorb nitrogen over a longer period. This reduces losses through leaching or volatilization and can reduce excess N₂O emissions.

The advantages of using CRFs:

• More consistent nutrient availability
• Reduced labor (fewer applications)
• Improved NUE
• Potential for higher yields
• Lower environmental losses
• Measurable reductions across both direct and indirect emissions

Like stabilizers, CRFs require minimal changes to farm operations. They are gaining traction in several high-input agricultural systems and are increasingly relevant for coffee production where irrigation and climate stress affect nutrient availability.

While CRFs can be more expensive per bag than conventional fertilizers, the overall cost per tonne of CO₂e reduced, especially when combined with yield benefits, is competitive with other Scope 3 interventions.

Reporting, traceability, and Scope 3 credibility

Fertilizer interventions are compelling for downstream actors because the results can be monitored and reported with confidence. When supported by verification frameworks, digital data collection, and clear quantification methodologies, companies can link reductions at farm level or sourcing region to their own Scope 3 claims.

Downstream companies can support fertilizer-efficiency interventions through:

• On-the-ground partnerships with cooperatives, agronomists, and local organizations.
• Carbon insetting models that link farm-level improvements directly to Scope 3 outcomes.
• Co-financed projects with traders or cooperatives to de-risk adoption for farmers.
• Using recognized quantification and reporting frameworks to ensure reductions are credible and auditable.

These approaches help align incentives between buyers and producers, ensuring farmers are compensated for adoption while companies can report credible Scope 3 reductions.

Proba’s role in the sector: taking action

Proba works with supply-chain partners to turn fertilizer efficiency into a reliable climate solution. We help companies identify where fertilizer emissions sit in their value chains, select the right interventions, and then implement them with farmers through cooperatives, agronomists, and local organizations. Our platform tracks adoption, quantifies results, and supports credible Scope 3 reporting. By focusing on proven technologies, like nitrogen stabilizers and controlled-release fertilizers, and tailoring deployment to local farming realities, Proba makes it possible for buyers to achieve measurable emissions reductions while supporting farmer productivity.

A practical path for coffee buyers

Coffee companies face lots of pressure: tighter regulations, expanding climate disclosures, and demand from customers and investors to provide sustainable coffee and meet climate targets. Impactful solutions exist, and they’re relatively easy to implement.

Addressing fertilizer emissions can unlock significant progress:

• Measurable and verifiable Scope 3 reductions.
• Easily adopted without disrupting existing farm practices.
• They complement regenerative agriculture rather than compete with it.

Coffee doesn’t need to wait for future technologies or complex overhauls. Practical tools are available today to reduce emissions, strengthen supply chains, and build long-term resilience.

Practical, confidence-building, and partnership-oriented

If fertilizer emissions are a major part of your coffee footprint, and they are, you don’t need to wait for new technologies or costly transformations. Proven, farmer-ready solutions already exist, and companies that act now can secure measurable Scope 3 reductions while strengthening relationships with producers. Proba works with coffee buyers, traders, and cooperatives to design practical interventions, implement them with agronomists on the ground, and quantify the impact with clarity and credibility.

If you’re ready to explore what this could look like for your sourcing regions, Proba can help you identify the right interventions, model their impact, and build a practical plan with your local partners.