The International Coffee Genomics Network (ICGN) is a worldwide network of scientists. ICGN's ultimate goal is to sequence the coffee genome and decipher through international partnerships the genetic and molecular bases of important biological traits in coffee tree species that are relevant to growers, processors, and consumers. As part of ICGN efforts, an international high density reference genetic map for Coffea canephora Pierre is being constructed in collaboration with R&D Nestlé Center and the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute. Furthermore, with funding from the French Agency ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche), several institutes (Genoscope-CEA, IRD and CIRAD) are combining their scientific resources and expertise to sequence, assemble, and annotate the entire genome of C. canephora. Several others ICGN members are planning to join these efforts particularly for mapping and genome sequencing and annotation. The C. canephora genome consists of 11 chromosomes, is about 710 Mb in size, and is being sequenced de novo with deep coverage using different sequencing platforms to obtain a reference genome for Coffea. The overall sequencing strategy and progress of the project are described.