JulieCraves

Background information / Fair and Direct Trade

What is Fair Trade?

Worldwide, habitat destruction is the leading cause of bird population declines and loss of biodiversity.  The link between poverty and environmental degradation is inescapable.  Making sure that coffee farmers receive a living wage is one way to help preserve habitat — both by  encouraging sustainable coffee farming methods that produce the highest quality coffee, and by empowering farmers economically and reducing their need to exploit the environment for survival.  Here is some background information on Fair Trade.

Fair Trade: What it does
Fair Trade helps small producers of various goods and agricultural products avoid exploitation.  Global Exchange, an excellent resource, lists these Fair Trade principals:

  • Producers receive a fair price; for commodities, farmers receive a stable, minimum price.
  • No forced or child labor allowed.
  • Working conditions are safe and healthy.
  • Equal employment opportunities are provided for all.
  • Buyers and producers trade under direct long-term relationships.
  • Producers have access to financial and technical assistance.
  • All aspects of trade and production are open to public accountability.
  • Sustainable production techniques are encouraged. NOTE: This does not mean that Fair Trade certified coffee was grown under strict environmental standards. See this post for more about the environmental criteria for Fair Trade certification.

Fair Trade certification

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International sets standards and certifies. In order to reduce consumer confusion, it is working on using one label (the one in color here on the left) for Fair Trade products.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Fair Trade USA (formerly TransFair USA) places this black and white “Fair Trade Certified” label (right) on coffee, chocolate, and other commodities. It only indicates that the labeled product is Fair Trade, not that all products from the same company are Fair Trade.

NOTE: As of January 1, 2012, Fair Trade USA will no longer be a member of FLO. See this post for more information.

Because Fair Trade certification can be expensive, and is available only to cooperatives, it is unavailable to some farms who may have otherwise qualified.  An interesting article at Reason Magazine highlights some of these types of Fair Trade issues.  Some roasters gather together to pay fair trade prices — or more — to growers, even though their coffees are not officially certified.  See Cooperative Coffees for an example.

More resources on Fair Trade:

Research on coffee growing

Research: Epiphytes in coffee plantations

These two recent papers looked at epiphytes (plants that grow on others, but are not parasitic, such as orchids or bromeliads) in coffee plantations — whether shade coffee plantations preserved epiphyte biodiversity, and whether epiphytes were important to birds. Under shade-grown coffee certification, the pruning or removal of epiphytes is discouraged.

Hietz, P.  2005.  Conservation of vascular epiphyte diversity in Mexican coffee plantations. Conservation Biology 19:391-399.

This study surveyed nine shade coffee plantations in Mexico and found 89 species of epiphytes in the plantations, and 104 in natural forests.  Plantations with smaller trees and less shade had fewer epiphytes.

Cruz-Angon, A. and R. Greenberg. 2005.  Are epiphytes important for birds in coffee plantations? An experimental assessment.  Journal of Applied Ecology 42:150-159.

Plots in which epiphytes were intact and plots in which they were removed were compared in the breeding and non-breeding seasons.  When epiphytes are removed, canopy cover, foraging locations, nest sites, and nest materials are eliminated and microclimate changes.

This study found that plots without epiphytes had less bird diversity. Eighteen forest bird species were significantly more abundant in plots with epiphytes, and resident species that used epiphytes for nesting were more abundant in these plots as well. Three non-forest bird species were more abundant in plots without epiphytes.

Coffee regions

One Thousand Hills (Rwanda): the PEARL project

“One Thousand Hills” Rwandan coffee, available through Michigan State University. MSU’s Institute of International Agriculture’s project PEARL — Partnership to Enhance Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages — is helping Rwandans after the 1994 genocide rebuild by organizing coffee cooperatives, and teaching them skills in coffee production and marketing.  A portion of each sale goes back to PEARL. The genocide resulted in plantations being abandoned, and in many cases widowed women left to try to earn a living.  The cooperatives producing One Thousand Hills are 30 to 50% women.

Unfortunately, PEARL is funded by USAID, and the project has recently had its budget cut in half.  Read more about this crisis and steps being taken to insure the livelihoods of Rwandan coffee farmers — and our enjoyment of Rwandan coffee — can continue at portafilter.net.

Rwandan coffee has never been particularly notable (Rwandans being tea drinkers themselves), without much adherence to quality control. PEARL offered expertise in all aspects of sorting, washing, processing, and cupping, vastly improving the quality of the coffee.

Grown on small farms, in mountainous regions. Bourbon varietal. Medium roast, a clean, bright, smooth cup that I enjoyed very much.  Fair Trade.

Birds and other biodiversity / Research on coffee growing

Research: Shade grown coffee and orchids

Solis-Montero, L., A. Flores-Palacios, and A. Cruz-Angon.  2005.  Shade-coffee plantations as refuges for tropical wild orchids in central Veracruz, Mexico.  Conservation Biology 19:908-916.

This paper in the journal Conservation Biology reports that shade coffee plantations in Mexico provide refuge for orchids from lower montane cloud forest habitats — the most endangered forest type in the country, now comprising only 1% of Mexico’s land.

The magazine of the American Orchid Society published a similar article years ago:

Nir, M.A. 1988. The survivors: orchids on a Puerto Rican coffee finca.  American Orchid Society Bulletin 57:989-995.