https://archive.foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/interiorphoto-by-Ian-Baileysm4.jpg>”><img class=”wp-image-11741″ src=”<https://archive.foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/interiorphoto-by-Ian-Baileysm4.jpg>” alt=”*interiorphoto by Ian Bailey_sm4″ width=”279″ height=”372″ /> Coffee farmer Noemí Jiménez-Herrera. Photo by Ian Bailey
When the coffee crisis hit in 1999, smallholders in the area were producing high yields, but were heavily dependent on external inputs, especially agrochemicals. [10. D. Cole, personal communication, May 15, 2009.] The record low farm-gate prices between 2001 and 2005, combined with a 2005 spike in agrochemical prices, created the perfect storm of outmigration and land-use change out of coffee production in the district. Between 1998 and 2010, Agua Buena lost 34 percent of its population11 and the amount of land dedicated to coffee decreased by 73 percent between 2000 and 2012—a colossal reduction. [11. Instituto del Café de Costa Rica. Área cafetalera 2012 por región. 2013. Accessed October 1, 2013. http://www.icafe.go.cr/sector_cafetalero/SIG/area_cafetalera_2012_region.html.]
Pasture was by far the most popular replacement for coffee agroecosystems in places like Agua Buena. This land-use decision is a critical one because, once converted, the soil structure often becomes damaged enough that subsequent conversion to another cropping system is difficult, if not impossible. The ecological ramifications of this widespread shift to pasture call attention to the need to identify those strategies that incentivize the persistence of coffee.
Post-Crisis Agroecological Transformations
As coffee prices dropped and input costs increased, many Agua Buena producers were forced to minimize their use of agrochemical inputs, especially fertilizers. This was the inspiration for the formation, in 1999, of the “Sustainable Group”—a group of 61 farmers who were members of the CoopaBuena cooperative in Agua Buena. The group joined a new program launched by the Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG).
The free government program—Caficultura Sostenible en Pequeñas Fincas (Sustainable Coffee Production in Small Farms)—provided training and resources to organized producer groups to help them transition to sustainable coffee production. [12. Garcia, J. Sustainable adaptation: Confronting the coffee crisis using sustainable agriculture practices in Agua Buena, Costa Rica. M.S. Thesis. University of Michigan, 2005.] The 61 members of the Sustainable Group signed voluntary agreements committing themselves to the MAG’s Sustainable Coffee program and the transformation of their coffee agroecosystems such that by 2005 they would meet the following five core principles:
- Maintenance of between 30 and 50 percent agroforestry shade level
- Erosion control and soil conservation measures established throughout the farm
- Minimum of ten different species of shade tree per hectare of coffee
- Protection of natural water sources
- At least 50 percent reduction of chemical fertilizer use. [13. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. Manual para Inspectores en Café Sostenible. San Jose, Costa Rica: MAG, 2002.]
Abiding by these principles entailed a widespread and rapid transformation of agroecosystems among farmers in the Sustainable Group. Immediately following the Group’s written commitment, MAG organizers began an 11-day orientation course outlining the main principles of the program and creating action plans with each farmer. Subsequently, courses in organic production, farm accounting, agricultural best practices, organic composting, agroforestry design, shade management, and soil conservation took place between 2001 and 2008.
Fair Trade and Direct Marketing
In 2003, the Sustainable Group established a direct marketing partnership with a US NGO, the Community Agroecology Network (CAN), which returned over US$3 per pound to the CoopaBuena cooperative instead of the conventional market’s average $0.53 per pound. CAN also provided technical assistance in the agroecological conversion process. The additional profit from the direct market was generated with the intention of supporting the Sustainable Group’s agroecological transition. However, the drop in global coffee prices, combined with a processing accident, hindered CoopaBuena’s ability to repay outstanding loans and, by the first months of 2004, its debt ballooned to approximately US$3 million. [14. Garcia, J. F., and N. Babin. “Una comunidad cafetalera en transicion: estudio de caso en Agua Buena de Coto Brus, Costa Rica.” Paper presented at Crisis y Transformaciones en el Mundo del Cafe, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, 2006.]
The cooperative declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in May of 2004. As the community searched for viable alternatives, the farm families in the Sustainable Group formed their own cooperative, the Cooperativa Agroecológica CoopePueblos (CoopePueblos Agroecological Cooperative). The new cooperative sold over three quarters of its coffee to value-added markets during the five harvests between 2005 and 2009—ten percent of which was realized through the direct-market program managed with CAN, while 66 percent occurred through certified Fair Trade markets.
In not one single year between 2004 and 2009 was the price premium from Fair Trade and direct marketing large enough to realistically impact the Sustainable Group members’ persistence in coffee compared to their conventional counterparts.
A major finding of this research was that in not one single year between 2004 and 2009 was the price premium from Fair Trade and direct marketing large enough to realistically impact the Sustainable Group members’ persistence in coffee compared to their conventional counterparts. The failure of this market to deliver on its promises can be attributed to the high administrative costs and lower-than-promised profit structures inherent to each alternative market; usurious lending practices by the second-level Costa Rican Fair Trade exporting cooperative; cooperative mismanagement; and questionable business practices.
While this is just one case study, it is one of the first published evaluations of farm-gate prices paid in Costa Rica. As such, it supports a much more cautious view of Fair Trade as an effective intervention and calls into question the purported benefits of Fair Trade. The results of this study also corroborate other Central American research that finds average annual Fair Trade coffee sales—and the proportion of that total annual volume sold through alternative markets—are too low for certification alone to adequately relieve the vulnerability of smallholder coffee farmers. [15. Méndez et al. “Effects of fair trade and organic certifications on small-scale coffee farmer households in Central America and Mexico.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 25 (2010): 236–251.]
