Cost of coffee.indd - RISC

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appendix 2: sustainable coffee Coffee is northern Latin America’s most important export crop, both in terms of the area in cultivation and its economic value. Not only has it transformed landscapes and economies throughout the region, coffee holds an allure for all those who enjoy a steaming hot cup every morning. Coffee is of special interest to conservationists because it covers so much of the region’s middle elevations – one of the richest ecological zones on Earth. Coffee farms cover more than 7 million acres of land in Northern Latin America! Coffee farms can serve as either a haven or a hazard to wildlife and local communities. Traditionally, coffee was grown under the shade of native rainforest trees, providing habitat for wildlife and reducing the need for heavy treatments of agrochemicals. Recently, many farmers have cleared the forests shading their coffee and switched to a new, open-field system. These intensely managed hedgerows produce more coffee, but require more agrochemicals and destroy wildlife habitat. These full sun farms are void of wildlife and have increased problems with soil erosion. The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), developed the Sustainable Coffee Project to provide market incentives for the conservation of forested coffee farms. Farms that meet the strict set of comprehensive agricultural standards receive the ECO-OK seal of approval to distinguish their product in the marketplace. This gives farmers incentive to maintain their shade-grown coffee farms, thus preserving an important habitat and encouraging coffee farming that protects worker health and safety. the scoop on shade-grown coffee Coffee, a shade-loving plant that evolved in the forests of Africa, has been a major economic, political and cultural force in the Americas since it was imported to the West Indies in the 1700s. At first, farmers simply thinned patches of rainforest and planted coffee bushes in the warm twilight under the forest canopy. In recent years, agronomists have promoted new ways to grow coffee, using only a few species of heavily pruned shade trees or even planting dense hedgerows of coffee in open fields. These “full-sun” farms produce more coffee beans, but at a terrible cost to the environment. the dangerous trend toward sun-grown coffee A growing number of farmers are bulldozing their shaded plantations and switching to an open-field system devoid of trees or wildlife. This concerns conservationists, because coffee is the dominant crop throughout the highlands. Most of the region is already deforested. Mexico loses a million acres of forest every year. An equal amount is destroyed annually in Central America. Coffee plantations account for over seven million acres of land in this region and are an important alternative to native forests. migratory songbirds and coffee farms Most American coffee drinkers have never had the opportunity to visit a coffee farm and only appreciate coffee in its ground and brewed form. But we all enjoy another benefit of coffee farms: migratory songbirds. Warblers, redstarts, tanagers, thrushes, orioles and their wayfaring allies are in trouble for many reasons, primarily habitat fragmentation in the north and deforestation in the tropics, where they spend the winter. Many of the birds on the Priority Species list of Partners In Flight, an international coalition of conservation organizations – including the Black-capped Vireo, Cerulean Warbler and Golden-winged Warbler – will spend the winter in ‘coffee forest’. shade-grown coffee promotes biodiversity Traditional farms are home to dozens of tree species, some natural and others planted by farmers to provide wood, fruit, fiber and other products. There are often more tree species found in an acre of traditional coffee than in an acre of North American forest. The exuberant, multi-layered flora provides refuge for abundant wildlife, ranging from frogs in the leaf litter and ocelots hunting the partridge-like tinamous, to parrots squawking overhead. Biologists in Guatemala inventoried birds, bats, bugs and reptiles in coffee farms, 50
demonstrating that traditional shaded farms were rich in biodiversity. Luis Gaitan, one of the researchers, reports that, “full-sun coffee is a biological desert.” Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the US Forest Service have corroborated the dramatic differences in bird diversity between shaded and full-sun coffee farms. Ivette Perfecto, of the University of Michigan, sampled beetles, ants and other insects in Costa Rican coffee farms. She found, for example, 126 species of beetles in a traditional farm as compared to 29 species in a full-sun farm. In El Salvador, a country with less than 5 percent of its original forest cover, traditional shade-grown coffee farms acting as alternative forest habitat have maintained much of the avian diversity. ECO-OK certification The ECO-OK certification program brings together our concerns for the environment and our desire to support farmers and communities that safeguard our natural resources. The ECO-OK seal of approval assures consumers that products were grown with little or no agrochemicals under a strict set of environmental standards and with protection for worker health and safety. In order to win ECO-OK certification, a farmer must maintain forest cover over his coffee plants and take prescribed measures to protect surrounding forests, streams and wildlife – and it doesn’t stop there. ECO-OK certified farms must implement plans to control erosion and severely reduce the use of agrochemicals. Workers must be paid according to the law, treated fairly and given environmental education and training. All solid, liquid and organic wastes must be properly managed. Coffee mills, a primary source of river pollution, must install appropriate water treatment technology. source: www.ra.org/coffee 51
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credits devised, written and design
Page 4 and 5: “ A company that adopts and imple
Page 6 and 7: the instructions What you need - ge
Page 8 and 9: glossary bluewash The ploy used by
Page 10 and 11: coffee file Coffee: adaptation of A
Page 12 and 13: 8 the story of coffee D the coffee
Page 14 and 15: wet method D requires the use of re
Page 16 and 17: 200 Robusta coffee market 1986-2005
Page 18 and 19: drinker roasted, ground, instant CO
Page 20 and 21: 16 key ideas ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Page 22 and 23: Profit margins are high - Nestlé h
Page 24 and 25: key ideas ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ In respon
Page 26 and 27: • because of past price fluctuati
Page 28 and 29: aim a fair price? ◆ To analyse th
Page 30 and 31: ◆ Although in The coffee cycle Ne
Page 32 and 33: s Analyse the photos used and the o
Page 34 and 35: ◆ ◆ Real costs A supply and dem
Page 36 and 37: aim how fair’s fair? ◆ To explo
Page 38 and 39: actionpage: how fair’s fair? s Re
Page 40 and 41: 1990 european fair trade associatio
Page 42 and 43: Actionpage: Pros & cons 38 PROS Gua
Page 44 and 45: aim fair marketing ◆ To analyse t
Page 46: Actionpage: Logo ® 42
Page 49 and 50: actionpage: press release Statement
Page 51 and 52: appendix 1: the coffee crisis The I
Page 53: demand sides in which the coffee cr
Page 57 and 58: appendix 4: co-op’s fairtrade cof
Page 59 and 60: appendix 5: mugged introduction The
Page 61 and 62: women earn less, work longer, have
Page 63 and 64: appendix 6: rescue plan A Coffee Re
Page 65 and 66: Consumer governments 1 Provide poli
Page 67 and 68: joining forces we believe that we w
Page 69 and 70: of shortfalls that occur (see Nestl
Page 71 and 72: appendix 8: robbing coffee’s crad
Page 73 and 74: appendix 9: behind the mask the rea
Page 75 and 76: • change the law to enable people
Page 77 and 78: Fair Trade in Action - KS 3-4 Fairt
Page 79 and 80: ackground reading* Behind the mask:
Page 81 and 82: useful contacts Anti-Slavery Intern
Page 83 and 84: International Coffee Organisation w
Page 85 and 86: isc Reading International Solidarit
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