Beans, Birds and Bio-Diversity

In the United States and Europe, young people are rejecting the cup for the can, and cola, not coffee is king. Globally, coffee supplies are exceeding demand; the coffee mountains are gaining in altitude every year, and every metre gained can only be bad news for the producers. And the advice for the coffee growers? Growing more is clearly not a long term solution, but finding ways of adding value to what they already grow could be.

Value addition can come in the form of 'downstream' processing: roasting or grinding or both. Producers could also consider exploiting the preferences of consumers; café gourmets prefer their coffee to have a distinctive identity, whether that be based on its flavour or its place of origin, and while such niceties may not convince the majority, another niche market could lie in environmentally friendly coffee. Public interest in the effect of agriculture on the environment has undoubtedly been awakened, at least in Europe, by recent disease outbreaks, which rightly or wrongly are often blamed on 'industrial' farming methods. Agriculture and bio-diversity have usually found themselves on opposite sides of the fence, particularly when agriculture has tended towards input-intensive mono-cropping on conveniently treeless and hedge-free fields. Hence an interesting marketing angle being explored by a few companies focuses on the link between coffee and bio-diversity, more particularly birds.

Coffee originated from dense forests in the Ethiopian highlands, where it grows under the shade of a thick canopy. While 'industrial' production tends to be done in full sun, much of the world's coffee is still grown under a greater or lesser degree of shade, provided either by natural forests or planted trees. By coincidence coffee is also farmed in many of the world's richest eco-systems; places like Colombia, Costa Rica, India and Tanzania. Conservationists, acutely concerned to preserve the diversity of these areas, have taken a good look at the effects of coffee-growing on plant, insect and animal species, and their findings suggest that among all the main agricultural and agro-forestry systems, shaded coffee plantations are one of the best preservers of bio-diversity. Studies in India found that the diversity of tree species in plantations was not far short of that in local evergreen forests, and surveys at the Colombian Coffee Growers research station at Chinchiná indicate that it is home to over 170 species of birds - around 10% of the national total.

How can any of this be important to coffee farmers? Without overstating the case, environmentally friendly coffee could be a market that more adventurous farmers will want to explore. In a bid to raise funds for bird conservation, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre has devised a model for bird-friendly coffee production, specifying the composition and structure of shade trees, and the need for a high canopy. Already some brands have been given the 'bird friendly' tag, and are using images of birds in their logos and advertisements.

Admittedly, while 'bird friendly' coffee could help a minority of farmers, promoting such 'model' farming on a wider scale would be quite a challenge. The model would need adaptation to cope with different geographical regions, and converting from sun to shade coffee would raise complex issues both agricultural, social and financial. Also, providing incentives for farmers to switch to 'bird friendly' coffee would likely involve logistically impractical monitoring and payment arrangements.

However, shade-grown coffee can offer benefits to growers beyond simply giving them the possibility of a niche market. For one thing it is more sustainable than mono-cropped 'sun' coffee. The shade-giving trees help to preserve the soil structure, thereby preventing erosion and protecting watersheds. They also support microbial life, so ensuring a natural control of pests and pathogens. And diversity among plant species improves the recycling of nutrients.

In addition to sustainability, farmers in some areas could also benefit by combining shade-grown coffee production with agro-tourism. In Colombia, coffee growing areas are being used as buffer zones for national parks, and the steep valleys planted to coffee act as biological corridors, enabling animals and birds to spread and prosper. Tourism is already economically more important than agriculture in the rural parts of many developed countries, as it is in Costa Rica. If this trend continues, agro-tourism may well become an attractive option to farmers who have struggled to make a living from coffee alone.

Whether or not any of these ideas bear fruit, one thing is certain: the debate fermenting over coffee and bio-diversity is already filtering down into new models for sustainable production which, given international support, could potentially change coffee landscapes. It is also clear that if the conservationists' wishes are to amount to more than a hill of beans, much will depend on consumer preference and patronage.

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