This paper presents an overview of coffee processing methods, starting from coffee cultivation and explaining each step until roasting and brewing. Initially, it includes a description of the coffee plant properties cultivation, the features of the cherries and the maturation process. Secondly, it presents an overview of the coffee harvesting and processing, presenting an overview of the dry and wet method. Finally, it includes the description of hulling, grading and sorting with a thorough description of how to maintain a high-quality of coffee during roasting and brewing methods. This paper is particularly interesting for anyone looking at an overview of coffee processing methods and quality assurance for high-quality coffee.

This paper engages critically with current ethical trading practice in the global cut flower trade, focusing on the specific case of Kenyan export production for European markets. Notions of governmentality are adopted in the analysis, in order to understand the rationalities and materialities that underpin the organizational geographies of business responsibility in this context, and serve to re-regulate the trading network. Mentalities of stakeholding and practices of auditing are shown to play prominent roles in this process. However, it is argued that regulatory contradictions associated with the audit economy place organizational limits on the effective practice of ethical trade.

This paper uses a Global Commodity Chain (GCC) approach to examine the transformation of the global coffee marketing chain and its repercussions in developing countries. It focuses on shifts that have occurred in the last two decades in the international coffee trade regime, on regulation at the domestic level in producing countries, and on changes in corporate strategies and consumption patterns. These are assessed in relation to the evolution of the organisation of the chain, its mode of governance, the ownership characteristics at various 'nodes', and the distribution of income along the chain. The paper also explores how the restructuring of the coffee chain has affected different groups of actors and suggests some policy directions to address the emerging imbalances. Finally, it assesses the contribution offered by the coffee case study to wider debates that are taking place in the GCC literature.

Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are three big players in coffee production in East Africa. Ponte examines the coffee context in these three countries, as well as their individual histories of nationalization and liberalization of the coffee industries. In the end, Ponte explains that liberalization has worked differently in each country, with Kenya benefitting from regulation, Uganda benefitting from liberalization, and Tanzania navigating a difficult middle position. Readers interested in nationalization of coffee industries, economics, and East African supply chains will be especially interested in this article.

This paper represents a brief overview on coffee processing with special emphasis on the physiology and biochemistry of the coffee beans. Green coffee is obtained by submitting the harvested coffee cherries to either wet or dry processing. It is well accepted that wet processed coffees evolve much better quality. The decisive quality criterion of coffee as a beverage is its aroma, being composed of more than 800 compounds. Surprisingly, only about 30 of these contribute significantly to the specific coffee aroma. These aroma impact compounds are suitable indicators to estimate objectively the aroma differences resulting from different processing. Up to now, the reasons for the quality differences of technologically distinctively produced coffees are unknown. In this context, the biochemical and physiological processes which occur in the living coffee bean during post harvest processing, and which are related to quality, must be taken into consideration. The coffee plant reveals some particularities which are relevant for the generation of aroma components but which, so far, hardly any attention has been paid to: the coffee bean stands intermediately between recalcitrant and orthodox seeds. It does not undergo a resting period induced by maturation drying, and seed germination is initiated while the fruit is still in the final stages of development. In consequence, coffee beans that are submitted to processing do not represent resting seeds but rather developing seedlings. Substantial features of a seed in state of germination are an increasing rate of respiration and the mobilization of storage compounds. These physiological processes must have an impact on the concentration of aroma precursors in green coffee beans and thus on coffee quality. Accordingly, the reported discrepancies between differently processed coffees appear to be the consequence of distinct developmental stages in the course of the coffee seed germination, since the different processing procedures (dry or wet) are suitable to favour germination to an unequal extent.

A review of constructed wetland use in developing countries

In the 1990s, fair trade, as practised by alternative trading organisations (ATOs), has evolved from a solidarity to a partnership model. This paper explores the nature of fair trade partnership using a case study of Cafe direct and one of its suppliers, the KNCU in Tanzania. For ATOs, fair trade is articulated in terms of a partnership with both producers and consumers. Partnership in this paper is conceived in terms of a fusion of the market and ethics in the links in the supply chain from the producer and consumer, the core partnership being that between the ATO and the producer organisation. The case study is used to highlight the elements of the partnership that are necessary for a fair trade relationship to 'work,' emphasising the importance of participation by the producer partner.

This research article investigates the financial viability for coffee farmers to invest in biodiversity-friendly coffee. The research was conducted in El Salvador analysing different production systems: traditional polyculture, commercial polyculture, technified shade with less than 1200 m altitude, t technified shade greater than 1200 m altitude and unshaded monoculture. To present a comprehensive analysis the author assessed all the aspects of costs when investing in this kind of production, starting from production per hectare, replanting costs, investment costs, input costs among others applied to a period of three-year time. Results showed that all forms of production systems, when investing in a biodiversity-friendly coffee, are financially viable for farmers. The unshaded monoculture was the most profitable and the traditional polyculture was the only risk-free. This article is particularly interested to researchers looking at different biodiversity scenarios and differences in the economics aspects of this specific production system.

Moguel and Toledo take a sweeping look at Mexican coffee growing systems, from rustic forest-grown coffee up through sun monocultures. Most smallholder, indigenous farmers are using methods that are considered “traditional,” employing forests or polyculture systems which promote biodiversity and provide them with a variety of food and raw materials. The authors then broadly overview how different types of plants and animals interact with the different types of coffee growing systems, concluding that traditional systems used by indigenous farmers are often refuges for these species of plants and animals. This means that their traditional agricultural techniques can help preserve biospheres and protected areas, as well as offering some refuge for species in less pristine areas – providing a critical service to their communities while earning an income with coffee.

This article analyzes the division of the total income and surplus generated along the coffee commodity chain during the period 1971–1995. Until the late 1980s, coffee growers and producing states retained over a third of the total income and about half of the total surplus that was available. This was due in part to the collective actions of coffee-producing states, which led to the imposition of a regulatory regime involving export quotas, creating rents for the producing countries. By the late 1980s, coffee TNCs had consolidated their control over core markets, and began to use their market power to increase their shares of both income and surplus. This shift was greatly accelerated by the breakdown of the export quota regime in 1989. The article concludes that these results necessitate a reformulation of commodity chain analysis.

Published in 1996, this anthropology paper is a portal to a transition phase in the history of coffee. William Roseberry describes going to the local market to pick up “specialty coffee” - explaining what this means to him as a consumer to have a world of choices and flavors that were never before accessible. He continues by giving an introduction to coffee through the lens of American culture and global economics, from the 1800s to the 1980s, explaining changes ranging from the industrial revolution to the decline in coffee consumption in the 70s and 80s – and how each factor played a role in creating the new waves of specialty coffee. He also explains some of the issues in the trade, still pertinent to us today. This article will be particularly interesting to those looking for a foundation in the history of the global coffee trade, those interested in cultural anthropology, and those who want to better understand the early years of the second wave of coffee.

Over 120 000 tons coffee is processed per year in Kenya. More than 1200 coffee factories produce a pollution loading equivalent to a staggering population equivalent of over 240 000 000. The coffee industry is therefore the most important industrial polluter in rural Kenya. Pulp, husks and wastewaters are produced. Husks can be directly used as fuel. Wet pulp could be composted and then used as a soil conditioner. Wastewaters have a high BODs sometimes even exceeding 9000 mg/l. In India and Central American countries, anaerobic lagoons are .mainly used for the treatment of these wastewaters. In Kenya water re-use combined with land disposal with zero discharge has been recommended. However, in all these methods, the desired environmental soundness is rarely achieved. Anaerobic digestion with biogas production is potentially attractive. Fuel generated could be used for drying coffee. About 10 000 GJ of energy is required to dry 1 ton of coffee. The potential yield of biogas from one ton of pulp can be estimated as 131 m3 This is equivalent to 100 litres of petrol in fuel value.

Indian coffee sector is at an important point of transition, wedged between quality and value segments of the market. The trend towards Robusta has reduced the share of Arabica coffee resulting in moving away from the quality segment of the market. The value chain analysis of conventional, certified, and organic coffee indicated that chains for coffee are largely diffuse in nature, with limited coordination in terms of quality and specifications in the conventional chain. Coordination is stronger in certified and organic chains, but incentives and motivation for upgrading largely stem from individual efforts to add value rather than those taking place at the chain-level. Clearly, organic and certified coffee proved to beneficial as compared to conventional coffee in terms of gains to the actors and sustainability point of view. There is a potential niche for India to develop eco-friendly coffees by leveraging the natural environment and biodiversity present in its coffee growing region – Western Ghats, a hotspot of biodiversity. These suggest that integrating sustainability 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.

The paper examines the broader environmental issues and environmental management aspects of primary coffee processing in general and more specifically how it is addressed in India. Primary processing, the production of green beans from the coffee fruits, is practised to bring out more flavour. Coffee is an important global commodity, yet seen from a systemic view the producers and consumers of such an important commercial commodity are far apart. Primary coffee processing, with all its attendant environment impact, takes place at the producer end. The consumers in general are unaware of these impacts. The various methods of processing, the processing steps and the waste discharge associated with them are reviewed. A review of pollution and associated management methods is presented. An anaerobic bioreactor design developed and tested in a few Indian coffee plantations as a simple solution is also described.

As environmental degradation induced by natural disasters has become more frequent in the last decades, the impact of environmental changes on migration has created new, unprecedented challenges. Compared with other natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, climate-related events caused the most displacement in 2010, forcing 38 million people to move (IDMC, 2012).