Coffee, Conservation and Commerce
[Excerpt]
“Coffee drinkers historically have had little reason to contemplate the environmental dimensions of their habit. Yet, over the past 15 to 20 years, dramatic changes associated with the ecological, social and economic sustainability of coffee have redefined coffee production in northern Latin America. Only recently has it come to light that the way coffee is produced profoundly affects migratory bird diversity and other ecological indicators of environmental health.
In this report, we examine the issues related to the industrialization of the coffee sector in northern Latin America, and connect these seemingly distant changes in agricultural production to the morning ritual played out in hundreds of millions of homes throughout the world. We first establish the importance of coffee to the countries of the region, showing how national economies, agricultural area and wage labor evolved to supply the North's coffee craving.
Next, we present the changes that have been reshaping the coffee landscape over the past couple of decades--changes that seek to bring greater yields and higher income to the rural sector, but that may be doing so at tremendous environmental and social cost to the region in the long-term.
The following section presents the environmental dimensions of modern coffee production, identifying concerns that are both local and global in scope, and contrasting the benefits of shade coffee with the damages resulting frequently from sun plantations.
Finally, the report recommends actions on the part of policy makers, private sector businesses, consumers, and coffee growers, processors, and roasters to promote a sustainable future for the environment and economy of northern Latin America…”
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