Environmental and economic costs and benefits from sustainable certification of coffee in Nicaragua
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Haggar, Jeremy 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4682-4879, Jerez, Roberto, Cuadra, Luis, Alvarado, Urbina and Soto, Gabriela
(2012)
Environmental and economic costs and benefits from sustainable certification of coffee in Nicaragua.
Food Chain, 2 (1).
pp. 24-41.
ISSN 2046-1879 (Print), 2046-1887 (Online)
(doi:10.3362/2046-1887.2012.004)
Abstract
Sustainable certifications have been promoted as a means of recognizing environmental benefits and generating economic ones from sustainable coffee production. A case study is presented from one region of Nicaragua where these benefits were evaluated and two producer organizations were supported to improve their access to sustainable certification. Biodiversity and carbon stocks were found to be more associated with small-holder vs large-scale farms than with certification per se; but reduced use of agrochemicals and good management of water sources was strongly associated with certification. Economic performance of farmers with different certifications varied, C.A.F.E Practice and Rainforest Alliance certified farmers had higher income but also higher levels of investment than conventional farmers, while organic farmers a similar level of income to conventional producers but achieved this with a lower level of investment. Producer organizations require substantial external financial and technical support to access these certifications, which may place limitations on the spread of the benefits from sustainable certification to a majority of producers.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | coffee, biodiversity, environment, C.A.F.E. Practices, carbon, Fairtrade, organic, Rainforest Alliance, Utz Certified, economic costs |
| Subjects: | S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SB Plant culture |
| Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: | Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute |
| Related URLs: | |
| Last Modified: | 23 Apr 2019 10:41 |
| URI: | http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/10065 |
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