Confronting the Coffee Crisis

by Bacon, Christopher M.; Mendez, V. Ernesto; Gliessman, Stephen R.; Goodman, David; Fox, Jonathan A.

• ISBN13: 9780262026338
• ISBN10: 0262026333
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-29
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

Our morning cups of coffee connect us to a global industry and an export crisis in the tropics that is destroying livelihoods, undermining the cohesion of families and communities, and threatening ecosystems. Confronting the Coffee Crisisexplores small-scale farming, the political economy of the global coffee industry, and initiatives that claim to promote more sustainable rural development in coffee-producing communities. Contributors review the historical, political, economic, and agroecological processes within today's coffee industry and analyze the severely depressed export market that faces small-scale growers in Mexico and Central America. The book presents a series of interdisciplinary, empirically rich case studies showing how small-scale farmers manage ecosystems and organize collectively as they seek useful collaborations with international NGOs and coffee companies to create opportunities for themselves in the coffee market. The findings demonstrate the interconnections among farmer livelihoods, biodiversity, conservation, and changing coffee markets. Additional chapters examine alternative trade practices, certification, and eco-labeling, discussing the politics and market growth of organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade coffees. Combining interdisciplinary research with case-study analysis at scales ranging from the local to the global, Confronting the Coffee Crisisreveals the promise and the perils of efforts to create a more sustainable coffee industry. Contributors: Christopher M. Bacon, David B. Bray, Sasha Courville, Jonathan A. Fox, Stephen R. Gliessman, David Goodman, Carlos Guadarrama-Zugasti, Shayna Harris, Roberta Jaffe, María Elena Martinez-Torres, V. Ernesto Méndez, Ellen Contreras Murphy, Tad Mutersbaugh, Seth Petchers, José Luis Plaza-Sanchez, Laura Trujillo, Silke Mason Westphal.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Context and Analytical Framework
The International Coffee Crisis: A Review of the Issues	p. 3
Agroecological Foundations for Designing Sustainable Coffee Agroecosystems	p. 27
The Roots of the Coffee Crisis	p. 43
Ecological and Social Dimensions of Producers' Responses
Coffee-Production Strategies in a Changing Rural Landscape: A Case Study in Central Veracruz, Mexico	p. 69
The Benefits and Sustainability of Organic Farming by Peasant Coffee Farmers in Chiapas, Mexico	p. 99
A Grower Typology Approach to Assessing the Environmental Impact of Coffee Farming in Veracruz, Mexico	p. 127
Confronting the Coffee Crisis: Can Fair Trade, Organic, and Specialty Coffees Reduce the Vulnerability of Small-Scale Farmers in Northern Nicaragua?	p. 155
Coffee Agroforestry in the Aftermath of Modernization: Diversified Production and Livelihood Strategies in Post-Reform Nicaragua	p. 179
Farmers' Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation in a Coffee Landscape of El Salvador	p. 207
Alternative South-North Networks and Markets
Social Dimensions of Organic Coffee Production in Mexico: Lessons for Eco-Labeling Initiatives	p. 237
Serve and Certify: Paradoxes of Service Work in Organic Coffee Certification	p. 261
Organic and Social Certifications: Recent Developments from the Global Regulators	p. 289
From Differentiated Coffee Markets toward Alternative Trade and Knowledge Networks	p. 311
Cultivating Sustainable Coffee: Persistent Paradoxes	p. 337
About the Contributors	p. 373
Index	p. 377
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