Confronting the coffee crisis : fair trade, sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems in Mexico and Central America / edited by Christopher M. Bacon ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bacon, Christopher M.

Series:

Food, health, and the environment

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coffee industry--Mexico.

Coffee industry.

Coffee industry--Central America.

Coffee industry--Mexico--Case studies.

Coffee industry--Central America--Case studies.

Central America.

Mexico.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xii, 390 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, [2008]

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 Crisis explores small-scale farming, the political economy of the global coffee industry, and initiatives that claim to promote more sustainable rural development in coffeeproducing 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 Crisis reveals the promise and the perils of efforts to create a more sustainable coffee industry.

Contents:

I Context and Analytical Framework

1 The International Coffee Crisis: A Review of the Issues / David Goodman 3

2 Agroecological Foundations for Designing Sustainable Coffee Agroecosystems / Stephen R. Gliessmann 27

3 The Roots of the Coffee Crisis / Seth Petchers, Shayna Harris 43

II Ecological and Social Dimensions of Producers' Responses

4 Coffee-Production Strategies in a Changing Rural Landscape: A Case Study in Central Veracruz, Mexico / Laura Trujillo 69

5 The Benefits and Sustainability of Organic Farming by Peasant Coffee Farmers in Chiapas, Mexico / Maria Elena Martinez-Torres 99

6 A Grower Typology Approach to Assessing the Environmental Impact of Coffee Farming in Veracruz, Mexico / Carlos Guadarrama-Zugasti 127

7 Confronting the Coffee Crisis: Can Fair Trade, Organic, and Specialty Coffees Reduce the Vulnerability of Small-Scale Farmers in Northern Nicaragua? / Christopher M. Bacon 155

8 Coffee Agroforestry in the Aftermath of Modernization: Diversified Production and Livelihood Strategies in Post-Reform Nicaragua / Silke Mason Westphal 179

9 Farmers' Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation in a Coffee Landscape of El Salvador / V. Ernesto Mendez 207

III Alternative South-North Networks and Markets

10 Social Dimensions of Organic Coffee Production in Mexico: Lessons for Eco-Labeling Initiatives / David B. Bray, Jose Luis Plaza Sanchez, Ellen Contreras Murphy 237

11 Serve and Certify: Paradoxes of Service Work in Organic Coffee Certification / Tad Mutersbaugh 261

12 Organic and Social Certifications: Recent Developments from the Global Regulators / Sasha Courville 289

13 From Differentiated Coffee Markets toward Alternative Trade and Knowledge Networks / Roberta Jaffe, Christopher M. Bacon 311

14 Cultivating Sustainable Coffee: Persistent Paradoxes / Christopher M. Bacon, V. Ernesto Mendez, Jonathan A. Fox 337.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780262026338

0262026333

9780262524803

0262524805

OCLC:

133465533