This paper provides an overview of hunger and food insecurity in the specialty coffee industry and outlines recommendations for solving the problem with the participation of all industry partners. Learn how and why seasonal hunger affects our industry and find out more about real projects you can get involved with to actively work towards developing solutions.

The issue of carbon emissions has been on the corporate sustainability agenda for some years. For those working in agricultural supply chains, the challenges remain significant, given the diverse direct and indirect emissions occurring throughout the value chain. This study determines the carbon footprint of the supply chain of Costa Rican coffee exported to Europe, using best practice methodology to calculate greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, it was found that the total carbon footprint across the entire supply chain is 4.82 kg CO2e kg-1 green coffee. The carbon footprint of the processes in Costa Rica to produce 1 km of green coffee is 1.77 kg CO2e. The processes within Europe generate 3.05 kg CO2e kg-1 green coffee. This carbon footprint is considered as “very high intensity”. This paper also identifies the sources of the most intense emission and discusses mitigation possibilities on which efforts must be focused.

Over the last two decades the global commodity chain, global value chain and global production network (GCC/GVC/GPN) frameworks have facilitated valuable research into contemporary global capitalism. However, much of this research has paid insufficient attention to work and workers. Recently, the concept of social upgrading, with a strong emphasis on workers' conditions, has been advanced by leading GCC/GVC/GPN theorists, as a potential remedy to the previous lacunae. This article welcomes this development, but also argues that the social upgrading concept represents an elite comprehension of relations between capital, the state and labour. It is argued that the concept, derived from the International Labour Organization's Decent Work Agenda, denies the reality of labour's exploitation by capital and is therefore only partially equipped to explain the existence of indecent work. The Decent Work Agenda and the social upgrading concept expect improvements in work to be delivered by elite actors such as firms, national states and international organizations. It is argued that, through re-visiting Marx's explication of the capitalist labour process, it is possible to comprehend the nature of capitalist exploitation, the root causes of indecent work and resistance to it, and thus to develop an alternative conception of social upgrading. The article presents evidence from North East Brazilian export horticulture to support these arguments.

This study examines pairs of farmers in Colombia, comparing one person who is Rainforest Alliance (RFA) certified to a similar, uncertified farmer. The researchers conclude that RFA certification improves the environmental sustainability of these farms, and brings other positive impacts such as a higher rate of education for their children. These positives often motivate farmers to keep their certifications, regardless of price premiums. The researchers also explain that the push toward RFA was enabled by the national growers federation, called FNC in Spanish, and FNC played a critical role in offering credit and training to farmers to switch them to RFA. (It is also worth noting that FNC helped finance the study itself.) Readers interested in environmental certifications, government’s role in coffee production, and farmers’ motivation for joining certification schemes will be particularly interested in this paper.

This report presents the results of the first three years of the Coffee Initiative project implemented by Technoserve in four different East African countries. The project took place in Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya with the aim of supporting the enhancement of coffee farmers’ income. In order to make this happen, Technoserve engaged in three core activities: the improvement of the management and governance of wet mills, the training of agronomic practices to increase quantity of production and the optimisation of the market access. Results obtained from the project showed that market access and improvements of processing methods were sufficient for farmers to received better price if not aligned with bigger volume of harvests. The project was also particularly successful because allowed collaborations with both Government institutions and the private sector. Moreover, two important actors influenced the benefits of this project for farmers, women and cooperatives, identified to be of paramount importance in order to guarantee more economic security to the producers. This report is particularly interesting for coffee professionals active in sustainable development projects.

This research article intends to assess the CO2 sequestration occurring in different agroforestry systems linked to coffee production. It does so by conducting parallel experiments on two different plots, one based in Costa Rica and the other in Nicaragua. The experiment started in 2001 when both plots were converted into coffee production. Initial measurements were made in 2001 as a baseline and then repeated in 2010 for a final assessment. The goal of this study was to analyse how the addition and management of trees change the soil organic carbon (SOC) level, as well as the SOC variation between shaded and non-shaded coffee farming, tree-pruning and conventional and organic management. The researchers calculated the SOC both in the surface (0 – 10cm deep) and deeper (20-40cm). Results showed that shade-grown coffee does not increase SOC the soil, on the contrary levels might decrease. However, the authors suggest that in order to create compelling analysis when assessing farm management systems designed to counteract climate change, many factors need to be taken into consideration, not only SOC but also green-house gas emissions, impact on biomass growth and yields. This article can be of particular interest to agronomists and conservation experts looking at mitigating solutions against CO2 emissions.

In this study, Jassogne et al. examine the perceived benefits and limitations of coffee/banana intercropping among various stakeholders in the Ugandan coffee industry. They summarize recent findings as to the benefits of coffee/banana intercropping, such as higher returns per unit of land and improved resilience due to crop diversification. Bananas also provide ground cover, shading, and in situ mulch, which are believed to improve coffee quality and resistance to drought. The researchers conducted interviews in order to understand how these findings align with the perceptions of stakeholders at different levels of the supply chain, including managers, extension agents, and farmers. They show a consensus among the interviewees as to the benefits of coffee/banana intercropping, but also identify several constraints. Making intercropping sustainable in the long term requires substantial resources that most farmers do not have access to. In addition, there is a lack of available information as to how to implement a coffee/banana intercrop system successfully. The researchers argue that more thorough research, along with institutional changes in the public sector, are required before coffee/banana intercropping will create significant benefits for farmers. Readers interested in farm systems and technology adoption in East Africa will find this study particularly useful.

The preparation of a cup of coffee may vary between countries, cultures and individuals. Here, an analysis of nine different extraction methods is presented regarding analytical and sensory aspects for four espressi and five lunghi. This comprised espresso and lungo from a semi-automatic coffee machine, espresso and lungo from a fully automatic coffee machine, espresso from a single-serve capsule system, mocha made with a percolator, lungo prepared with French Press extraction, filter coffee and lungo extracted with a Bayreuth coffee machine. Analytical measurements included headspace analysis with HS SPME GC/MS, acidity (pH), titratable acidity, content of fatty acids, total solids, refractive indices (expressed in °Brix), caffeine and chlorogenic acids content with HPLC. Sensory analysis included visual, aroma, flavor and textural attributes as well as aftersensation. The technical differences in the extraction methods led to a higher concentration of the respective quantities in the espressi than in the lunghi. Regarding the contents per cup of coffee, the lunghi generally had a higher content than the espressi. The extraction efficiency of the respective compounds was mainly driven by their solubility in water. A higher amount of water, as in the extraction of a lungo, generally led to higher extraction efficiency. Comparing analytical data with sensory profiles, the following positive correlations were found total solids - texture/body, headspace intensity - aroma intensity, concentrations of caffeine/chlorogenic acids - bitterness and astringency.

This study aimed to examine gender differences in coffee consumption and awareness of its effects in young people. To examine the above problem, a survey was conducted in 1189 young people (567 males aged 19.3 ± 1.5 years; 622 females aged 19.1 ± 1.2 years). The coffee consumption rate was significantly higher in males (50.8%) than in females (32.8%). In the coffee consumption group, no significant differences were found in the reasons for consumption, the components of coffee, and its effects on health. In the coffee nonconsumption group, significant gender differences were noted in the reasons for avoiding coffee; females (64.8%) disliked its taste more than males (39.4%). More young people of both genders in the consumption group were aware that coffee contains caffeine (79.9% - 86.5%) as compared with the nonconsumption group (67.0% - 74.2%). However, few people in both groups were aware about the components other than caffeine. In addition, more people in the nonconsumption group were unaware of the adverse effects of coffee on the body. The results of this study demonstrated that young males drink coffee more than young females. Among those who avoided coffee consumption, females disliked its taste more than males. Many people regardless of coffee consumption were aware about the components of coffee, but few knew about the other ingredients in this beverage. In addition, few people were aware of the negative effects of coffee on the health and body.

In this paper, we investigate the role of key industry and other stakeholders and their embeddedness in particular national contexts in driving the proliferation and co-evolution of sustainability standards, based on the case of the global coffee industry. We find that institutional conditions and market opportunity structures in consuming countries have been important sources of standards variation, for example in the cases of Fairtrade, UTZ Certified and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). In turn, supplier structures in producing countries as well as their linkages with traders and buyers targeting particular consuming countries have been key mechanisms of standards transmission and selection. Unlike prior research, which has emphasized the role of global actors and structures in promoting - and hindering - sustainability initiatives, we argue that national economic and institutional conditions in consuming and producing countries have not only served as important drivers of standards multiplicity and co-evolution, but also as catalysts for the entire global sustainability movement.

Research article examining the removal of organic matter in coffee processing wastewater using aeration and constructed wetlands.

Short report summarizing the results of Fair Trade on poverty reduciton in six different producer organizations. The organizations were located in Kenya, Ghana, Peru, and India.

​

What is the impact of product certification on small-scale farmers’ livelihoods? To what extent does the participation of Ethiopian small-scale coffee farmers in certified local cooperative structures improve their socioeconomic situation? To answer these questions, this article employs household data of 249 coffee farmers from six different cooperatives collected in the Jimma zone of Southwestern Ethiopia in 2009. Findings show that the certification of coffee cooperatives has in total a low impact on small-scale coffee producers’ livelihoods mainly due to (1) low productivity, (2) insignificant price premium, and (3) poor access to credit and information from the cooperative. Differences in production and organizational capacities between the local cooperatives are mirrored in the extent of the certification benefits for the smallholders. “Good” cooperatives have reaped the benefits of certification, whereas “bad” ones did not fare well. In this regard the “cooperative effect” overlies the “certification effect.”

Crop productivity is improved by ecosystem services, including pollination, but this should be set in the context of trade-offs among multiple management practices. We investigated the impact of pollination services on coffee production, considering variation in fertilization, irrigation, shade cover, and environmental variables such as rainfall (which stimulates coffee flowering across all plantations), soil pH, and nitrogen availability. After accounting for management interventions, bee abundance improved coffee production (number of berries harvested). Some management interventions, such as irrigation, used once to trigger asynchronous flowering, dramatically increased bee abundance at coffee trees. Others, such as the extent and type of tree cover, revealed interacting effects on pollination and, ultimately, crop production. The effects of management interventions, notably irrigation and addition of lime, had, however, far more substantial positive effects on coffee production than tree cover. These results suggest that pollination services matter, but managing the asynchrony of flowering was a more effective tool for securing good pollination than maintaining high shade tree densities as pollinator habitat. Complex interactions across farm and landscape scales, including both management practices and environmental conditions, shape pollination outcomes. Effective production systems therefore require the integrated consideration of management practices in the context of the surrounding habitat structure. This paper points toward a more strategic use of ecosystem services in agricultural systems, where ecosystem services are shaped by the coupling of management interventions and environmental variables.