GENDER EQUITY

This study aimed to characterize wet coffee processing waste and determine total reducing
sugar potential of coffee waste (pulp juice and mucilage) in Ethiopia. The volatile solid of the waste was
determined and showed that the waste (pulp juice and mucilage) has high organic component, 66.5% and
90.2%, respectively. The study showed that the waste (pulp juice and mucilage) is acidic with pH 4.75 and 3.67, respectively.

SCAA, Green Cafe Network and the Food Service Technology Center are proud to announce a new and innovative project to guide and support cafe operators who want to run a greener business and potentially reduce costs in the process. The Green Guide is a series of digital booklets, published in modules that will cover key strategies for cafe operators in energy conservation, waste reduction, water conservation, and toxics reduction. Green Cafe Network is providing technical assistance for the Guide's content, with key research and expertise from the Food Service Technology Center (FSTC). This Module focuses on energy use and reduction tips including lighting, refrigeration, cooking appliances, auxiliary equipment and hot water systems & HVAC.

This article tackles the ambitious goal of trying to answer some big-picture questions about Japan’s coffee consumption habits. What are the best and worst coffee products for the environment, and what contributing factors define those products? Japan’s canned coffee habit contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the energy needed to create and transport the cans; instant coffee’s intensive processing method contributes gas at the factory level; and lattes are a significant GHG contributor due to the harvest, transport, and storage of the milk used. Ultimately, the latte has the highest carbon footprint, followed by canned and then instant coffee. Readers interested in climate change, coffee consumption habits, and coffee manufacturing will find this article particularly useful.

This research team plunges deep into the concept of resilience and vulnerability at the level of farmers and farm communities. They worked with farmers in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua to delve into some of the social, economic, and environmental risks they face. Using climate models, they pinpointed some of the most vulnerable regions in each country, where climate change could change Arabica suitability significantly. They also examined communities for other factors that make them vulnerable – for example, the high migration rates in Guatemala and Mexico, and the lack of access to credit. The team suggests a broad picture of recommendations for these farming communities at the conclusion of their piece. Readers interested in Central America, climate change, and social sustainability will find this article especially interesting.

This research article assesses the main features affecting the price perceived by farmers participating in the Cup of Excellence auction programs. The authors build on two previous papers by Donnet et al. (2008) and Teuber and Hermann (2012), addressing the same topic, but expanding the model, by adding new variables to the analysis. For Wilson and Wilson, they do not only focus on price, origin and quantity of bags to understand the pricing model, but they also include the farmer affiliation to certification schemes, the altitude, the coffee varieties and the buyer location as a correction variable. Results show an extremely considerable difference in premium received by the farmer obtaining the first place and the others ranked in the top four, even if the difference in quality score is on average of 0.7 points. Results also showed that buyers value the exclusivity of small lots, but three varieties are irrelevant to make the choice. Finally, the authors present some guidelines for farmers who might be interested in participating in the auction and increase the visibility of their coffees.

This info note from the study conducted by Institute for Social and Economic Change in collaboration with Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) shows a value chain assessment of the coffee sector in Coorg, a major production area in India, to identify the potential entry points and constraints to a conservation-oriented strategy of upgrading. Our results highlight that coffee value chains in Coorg are fragmented and largely uncoordinated, with innovative upgrading efforts largely individually motivated. This suggests that integrating conservation principles in a broad-based branding strategy could be difficult at the level of the chain without institutional support or the entry of chain champions. On the other hand, integrating conservation as a diversification activity e.g. through the development of butterfly gardens for tourism, could provide a low-cost way of adding value for farmers while promoting good environmental stewardship.

This paper is a case study based in the Palpa district of Nepal. The purpose of it was to assess the profitability of coffee farmers, identifying any major problems associated with coffee production. Coffee is not new to Nepal, but production has been stuck in its rudimentary stages for decades due to various reasons. Both governments and non-government organizations have invested in research and development to assess the potential of coffee production as a potential poverty reduction technique for rural Nepal. The authors conducted a total of 110 surveys with coffee growers in Barangdi, Boughapokharathok, Madanpokhara and Khaseauli Village development committees (VDCs). Primary data was collected through both interviews as well as direct observations. Secondary data was collected from different publications and then analyzed. The results found that coffee contributes about 10 percent to the annual household income, with a significant profitability index. The major problems identified were pests and low market prices. Coffee farmers have had major pest attacks from red and white borers. For those growing regions, there have been major problems with low prices of fresh cherry. The final conclusion of the study was that coffee production would be financially feasible for these mid-hill regions in Nepal, but the key challenges need to be addressed simultaneously.

In low potential agricultural areas like the Honduran hillsides characterized by soil degradation and erosion, organic agriculture can provide a means to break the downward spiral of resource degradation and poverty. We use original survey data to analyze the factors influencing the decision to convert to organic agriculture. Previous studies have emphasized the role of spatial patterns in the diffusion and adoption of agricultural technologies in general and organic agriculture in particular. These spatial patterns can result from a variety of underlying factors. In this article we test various potential explanations, including the availability of information in the farmer's neighborhood, social conformity concerns and perceived positive external effects of the adoption decision, in a spatially explicit adoption model. We find that farmers who believe to act in accordance with their neighbors' expectations and with greater availability of information in their neighborhood network are more likely to adopt organic agriculture. Furthermore, perceived positive productivity spillovers to neighboring plots decrease the probability of adoption. We discuss the implications of our findings for the dissemination of sustainable agricultural technologies in low-potential agricultural areas in developing countries.

This study, conducted by Technoserve, explains the context of Uganda’s coffee sector and explains the challenges of making that sector more sustainable. Ultimately, the study argues that higher productivity is the key for farmers to be able to make future steps into sustainable production; furthermore, a doubling of productivity can occur without extraordinary technical advances. What Uganda needs most is a system of farmer field schools to train in proper pruning, fertilization, and plant care. Technoserve goes into some detail on how to raise this funding (about $70 million USD, $35 per farmer for two years each). Ultimately they advocate for a public/private partnership program to raise the funds and run the schools. Readers interested in productivity, Uganda, and certifications will find this an interesting read.

Twenty eight coffee samples from around the world were tested for caffeine levels to develop near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrations for whole and ground coffee. Twenty-five individual beans from five of those coffees were used to develop a NIRS calibration for caffeine concentration in single beans. We used an international standard high performance liquid chromatography method to analyse for caffeine content. Coffee is a legal stimulant and possesses a number of heath properties. However, there is variation in the level of caffeine in brewed coffee and other caffeinated beverages. Being able to sort beans based on caffeine concentration will improve quality control in the level of caffeine in those beverages. There was a range in caffeine concentration was from 0.01 mg/g (decaffeinated coffee) up to 19.9 mg/g (Italian coffee). The majority of coffees were around 10.0 mg/g to 12.0 mg/g. The NIRS results showed r2 values for bulk unground and ground coffees were greater than 0.90 with standard errors less than 2 mg/g. For the single bean calibration the r2 were between 0.85 and 0.93 with standard errors of cross validation of 0.8 to 1.6 mg/g depending upon calibration. The results showed it was possible to develop NIRS calibrations to estimate the caffeine concentration of individual coffee beans. One application of this calibration could be sorting beans on caffeine concentration to provide greater quality control for high-end markets. Further, bean sorting may open new markets for novel coffee products.

In light of concerns over climate change and the need for national inventories for greenhouse gas reporting, there has been a recent increase in interest in the‘carbon foot printing’ of products. A number of LCA-based carbon reporting tools have been developed in both the agricultural and renewable energy sectors, both of which follow calculation methodologies to account for GHG emissions from arable cropping. A review was performed to compare 11 existing greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting tools produced in order to calculate emissions from arable crops, either for food or bioenergy production in the UK, and a multi-criteria-analysis was performed to test their relative strengths and weaknesses. Tools designed for farm-based accounting achieved a higher ‘user-friendliness’ score, however bioenergy-based tools performed better in the overall level of information provided in the results, transparency and the comprehensiveness of emission sources included in the calculations. A model dataset for UK feed wheat was used to test the GHG emissions calculated by each tool. The results showed large differences, mainly due to how greenhouse gas emissions from fertiliser manufacture and application are accounted for. Overall, the Cool Farm Tool (Hillier et al., 2011) was identified as the highest ranking tool that is currently available in the public domain. The differences in the results between the tools appear to be due to the goal and scope, the system boundaries and underlying emission factor data.

In this paper, Chemura et al. seek to evaluate the Farmer Field School (FFS) model as a platform for agricultural innovation in the Zimbabwean coffee sector. They introduce the FFS model as a participatory alternative to other more linear, top-down agricultural extension systems that rely heavily on external funding and specialist knowledge. In order to measure the success of this approach, the researchers collected questionnaire data from four FFSs in the Manicaland province, the main coffee growing zone in Zimbabwe. They describe the main characteristics of these FFSs as well as their typical structure of operations, and identify the positive outcomes and constraints the FFSs have encountered since their creation. Positive outcomes include better social cohesion and collaboration among farmers, as well as productive partnerships between FFSs and the Coffee Research Institute. Constraints include lack of youth and female representation in FFS membership, low funding, and interference from local politicians. Ultimately, the researchers find the FFS model to be a promising approach to agricultural innovation, but urge policy makers to address the issue of youth and female representation. This paper will be of use to readers interested in agricultural extension systems, international development policy, and the Zimbabwean coffee sector.

This paper has been written as one of the outcomes that resulted from the UNIDO Project, “Post WTO Accession Support to Viet Nam—TBT/SPS Compliance Capacity Development Related to Key Export Sectors”. The aim of this project was to assist the Vietnamese Institutions and the exporters in meeting the different demands of the foreign market such as standards for quality hygiene and the various technical regulations. The raise in quality standards and expectation in the final markets for agricultural products calls for an increase awareness and need for traceability in Origin. Within the traceability scheme this project has carried out 6 different steps and activities that aided the process of achieving industry accepted results. This article that has been written to function as a manual for coffee producers in Vietnam in order to evaluate their food traceability system and improve it on the production side as well as on the product side, in order for it to be more desirable for the end consumer. The paper includes also different case studies. This article can be interesting for Vietnamese producers and for other producers that want to study Vietnam’s case as a benchmark.

La necesidad de los países de aumentar su matriz energética, ha impulsado la investigación y producción de los biocombustibles. Sin embargo, se ha generado una gran polémica por la utilización de materias primas que se emplean para alimentación humana y animal, como el caso de la caña de azúcar, cereales y aceite de palma, y por el balance energético del proceso productivo que, en algunos casos, es negativo. Por lo tanto, se está investigando en la generación de biocombustibles de segunda generación, provenientes de biomasa residual o de especies vegetales que no se utilizan para la alimentación. A continuación de presenta un resumen de las investigaciones realizadas en Cenicafé y en otros países, para obtener energía a partir de la biomasa residual del café.

Coffee is a major cash crop in Uganda, but research shows that the smallholder farmers who produce 90% of it could have their already vulnerable livelihoods made more vulnerable by climate change. Oxfam's research project interviewed cofee farmers in the Rwenzori Mountains and found that they are aware that the climate is changing and becoming less predictable, and have used various adaptation strategies. But for Arabica coffee, which can only be grown at high altitudes in Uganda, climate change and rising temperatures are likely to further restrict the areas in which it can be grown. This report makes recommendations for adapting coffee production in Uganda to reduce the impact of climate change on the economy and to reduce the risks that smallholder farmers will fall further into poverty.