Agriculture and Environment: Coffee

Introduction

Historically, there have been many opportunities to learn from experiences on the ground with coffee production.

Such experiences provide a context within which key conservation strategies can be developed. A number of better practices have been identified for coffee production.

These deserve more detailed analysis, so that they can be adapted and used by other producers and encouraged by governments around the world (through linkage to credit, price supports, licenses or permits, etc.).

The goal here is to reduce environmental impacts; one of the best ways to do this is to increase the longevity of each planting of coffee so that the owners will not be tempted to move to other areas and convert more habitat for any purpose, whether it be coffee or something else.

Equally important is discouraging the conversion of shade-grown coffee to large, monoculture stands of full-sun coffee. Other ways to reduce environmental damage include: diversifying production and sources of income, incorporating fallowing strategies, reducing input use, reducing water use, and reducing soil erosion.

Appropriate and detailed conservation strategies will be required, ideally for each key ecoregion or at the very least each country in question.