Coffee grown in full sun generally produces higher yields but researchers at Columbia University and Cornell who applied an economic model to shade-grown coffee suggest farmers will benefit from higher price premiums.
Author Juan Nicolás Hernandez-Aguilera said farmers can optimize coffee profits by converting one-thirds to two-thirds of their acreage to shade-grown. Shade-grown coffee that mimics a forest structure, lowers temperatures, conserves water, and supports wildlife. A single bird can save 23-65 pounds of coffee per hectare every year from pests.
Although increased use of fertilizer and pesticides lead to higher crop yields it exacts a significant cost to wildlife populations and human health, according to Hernandez-Aguilera, a post-doctoral scientist at Columbia’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI).
Using fewer agrochemicals is more environmentally-friendly but requires farmers to face increased risks of losing crops to pests and disease.
“Our estimates can guide the design of market-based mechanisms that aim to promote sustainable practices in coffee,” Hernandez-Aguilera says.
“While this image of shade-grown coffee is a romantic one, especially for those of us actively imagining how sustainable agriculture should look, farmers are not likely to change their systems unless it makes sense financially,” according to IRI.
The paper appears the journal Ecological Economics.