The Government of Nepal has identified opportunities in agricultural commercialization, responding to a growing internal demand and expansion of export markets to reduce the immense trade deficit. Several cash crops, including coffee and bananas, have been identified in the recently approved Agriculture Development Strategy. Both of these crops have encouraged smallholder farmers to convert their subsistence farming practices to more commercial cultivation. Identification of suitable agro-ecological zones and understanding climate-related issues are important for improved production and livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Here, the suitability of coffee and banana crops is analyzed for different agro-ecological zones represented by Global Environmental Stratification (GEnS). Future shifts in these suitability zones are also predicted. Plantation sites in Nepal were geo-referenced and used as input in species distribution modelling. The multi-model ensemble model suggests that climate change will reduce the suitable growing area for coffee by about 72% across the selected emission scenarios from now to 2050. Impacts are low for banana growing, with a reduction in suitability by about 16% by 2050. Bananas show a lot of potential for playing an important role in Nepal as a sustainable crop in the context of climate change, as this study indicates that the amount of area suited to banana growing will grow by 40% by 2050. Based on our analysis we recommend possible new locations for coffee plantations and one method for mitigating climate change-related problems on existing plantations. These findings are expected to support planning and policy dialogue for mitigation and support better informed and scientifically based decision-making relating to these two crops.

Since March 2015 the ICO composite price has been consistently below the 10-year average of 137.24 US cents/lb, raising concerns about the economic viability of coffee production and putting the livelihoods of coffee producers at risk in many countries. Prolonged periods of low prices strain liquidity at the farm level, resulting in less than optimal input use during the following production cycle, negatively affecting yields and quality. The expectation of future coffee prices too low to cover full costs of production can hamper important investments in renovation of coffee plantations. Replanting is particularly important as part of the mitigation of the impact of climate change and to respond to increased pest and disease pressure. Finally, low or negative profitability may lead to the abandonment of coffee production as farmers may switch to other more profitable agricultural crops. As a result, there is a widespread concern in the coffee sector that a prolonged phase of low coffee prices could negatively affect the supply of high quality coffee beans and could have adverse effects on household incomes in coffee growing communities. Hence, specific policies need to be formed to address the issue of economic sustainability of coffee production, stabilizing supply in the future and enabling farmers to be fairly remunerated. This study will (1) assess the cost structure of coffee production in selected countries, and (2) derive recommendations on how to improve the economic viability of coffee production

A short case study by Royal Coffee on the importance of a hotel's coffee program and found that improved coffee quality correlated to higher occupancy rates.

This report summarizes key findings on Climate Change and potential adaption and mitigation strategies.

Coffee is one of the largest traded commodities in the world, providing livelihoods for 25 million farming families, and is crucial to many countries' GDP. In places such as Ethiopia and Rwanda, coffee plays a critical role in the economy and revitalising coffee production and quality is vital; allowing farmers to attract premiums and improve their household income. This project continues on our previous work here improving processing practices by smallholders.

This blog post covers several methods for reducing waste generated in typical coffee shops and Costa Coffee's approach.

In the mid-1990s, fairtrade-organic registration data showed that only 9 % of Oaxaca, Mexico’s organic coffee ‘farm operators’ were women; by 2013 the female farmer rate had increased to 42 %. Our research investigates the impact of this significant increase in women’s coffee association participation among 210 members of two coffee producer associations in Oaxaca, Mexico. We find that female coffee organization members report high levels of household decision-making power and they are more likely than their male counterparts to report control over their coffee income. These significant advances in women’s agency within the household are offset by the fact that the women experience significant time poverty as they engage in coffee production while bearing a disproportionate share of domestic labor obligations. The women coffee producers view organizational labor as a third burden on their time, after their reproductive and productive labor. The time poverty they experience limits their ability to fully participate in coffee organizational governance and consequently there are few women leaders at all levels of the coffee producer businesses. This is problematic because it limits women’s ability to fully benefit from organizational membership: when women fully participate in governance they gain valuable business and leadership skills and producer associations with active female members may also be more likely to develop and maintain programs and policies that enhance gender equity. Our findings indicate that targeted agricultural development programs to improve gender equity among agricultural smallholders should involve creative ways to ease women’s labor burdens and reduce their time poverty in order to facilitate full organizational participation. The research findings fill a gap in existing studies of agricultural global value chains (GVCs) by demonstrating how the certified coffee GVC depends on women’s under and un-paid labor not only within the household but also within producer organizations.

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In May, 2016, a Working Group of 23 scientists from ten countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, to evaluate the carcinogenicity of drinking coffee, mate, and very hot beverages. These assessments will be published in volume 116 of the IARC Monographs.1

This page details several case studies where bio-bean, ltd. Recycled coffee grounds into bio-fuels.

Pests and diseases are the main yield-reducing factors in simplified agricultural systems. Their role in complex, diverse, agricultural systems may, however, be less apparent because of the many interactions in which they are involved. However, it is essential to understand the relationships between pests and diseases, on the one hand, and ecosystem services (including crop production), on the other, to develop sustainable agroecosystems. Our study aims to illustrate these complex relationships based on the example of coffee agroecosystems in Costa Rica. We analysed a dataset consisting of 107 coffee plots characterized for their topoclimates, soils, coffee plant production characteristics, cropping practices, and pest and disease injuries.

Soils are integral to the function of all terrestrial ecosystems and to food and fibre production. An overlooked aspect of soils is their potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Although proven practices exist, the implementation of soil-based greenhouse gas mitigation activities are at an early stage and accurately quantifying emissions and reductions remains a substantial challenge. Emerging research and information technology developments provide the potential for a broader inclusion of soils in greenhouse gas policies. Here we highlight ‘state of the art’ soil greenhouse gas research, summarize mitigation practices and potentials, identify gaps in data and understanding and suggest ways to close such gaps through new research, technology and collaboration.

The global coffee sector has seen a transformation towards more 'sustainable' forms of production, and, simultaneously, the continued dominance of mainstream coffee firms and practices. We examine this paradox by conceptualizing the underlying process of political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) as a series of long-term, multi-dimensional interactions between civil society and corporate actors, drawing from the neo-Gramscian concepts of hegemony and passive revolution. A longitudinal study of the evolution of coffee sustainability standards suggests that PCSR can be understood as a process of challenging and defending value regimes, within which viable configurations of economic models, normative-cultural values, and governance structures are aligned and stabilized. Specifically, we show how dynamics of moves and accommodations between challengers and corporate actors shape the practice and meaning of 'sustainable' coffee. The results contribute to understanding the political dynamics of CSR as a dialectic process of 'revolution/restoration', or passive revolution, whereby value regimes assimilate and adapt to potentially disruptive challenges, transforming sustainability practices and discourse.

Although most studies on the Fair Trade initiative are, to some extent, cognizant of its contribution to environmental sustainability, what the environmental aspect means to Fair Trade has not yet been explored fully. A review of environmental issues in the Fair Trade literature suggests that Fair Trade might influence participant producers' farming practices even if it does not directly impact natural resources. This paper attempts to interpret Fair Trade certification as an intermediary institution that links two significant objectives of rural development in the global South--environmental conservation and poverty reduction. This theoretical concept is examined in different real settings by observing four cases of Southern small farmer groups involved in the Fair Trade initiative. Findings from these case studies imply that if Fair Trade certification ensures tangible benefits for small farmers, it can not only help such disadvantaged farmers but also work as an approach for natural resource management.

This paper develops an evaluation and enhancement approach of the carbon footprints (CFs) based environmentally sustainable service competitiveness for coffees shops. Firstly, the proposed approach uses the service blueprint to analyse the service process of coffee shops and the working times of the required direct facilities and the supporting facilities to estimate the amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By using data envelopment analysis, the holistic performance evaluation model of environmentally sustainable service operation for coffee shops is created to find the non-benchmark environmentally sustainable service coffee shops. To improve environmentally sustainable service performance of the non-benchmark coffee shops, this paper evaluates the environmentally sustainable performance evaluation models of the meal-ordering and cooking areas and dining areas. Finally, this research gives an in depth analysis to comprehend the decreasing amount of the CF of each facility in the non-benchmark environmentally sustainable service areas.