Abstract
PurposeCoffee is one of the most widely grown cash crops globally, but there are few scientific articles on its carbon footprint and water scarcity impacts. The aim of this study was to assess the carbon footprint and water scarcity impacts throughout the life cycle of the coffee chain (cradle-to-grave) and to identify the most important sources of the impacts (hotspots).MethodsThe system included all the key stages of the supply chain from land use change and coffee cultivation to roasting and household consumption. Primary data was collected from eight coffee cultivation farms in Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Honduras and coffee roastery and packaging manufacturers in Finland. The AWARE method was applied in a water scarcity impact assessment.Results and discussionThe carbon footprint varied from 0.27 to 0.70 kg CO2 eq/l coffee. The share of the coffee cultivation stage varied from 32 to 78% and the consumption stage from 19 to 49%. The use of fertilizers was the most important process contributing to the carbon footprint. Furthermore, deforestation-related emissions notably increased the carbon footprint of coffee from Nicaragua. Compared with the previous literature, our results indicate a relatively larger share of climate impacts in the cultivation stage and less during consumption.The water scarcity impact was relatively low for non-irrigated systems in Central America, 0.02 m3 eq/l coffee. On Brazilian farms, irrigation is a major contributor to the water scarcity impact, varying from 0.15 to 0.27 m3 eq/l coffee.ConclusionsImproving the management practices in cultivation and fertilization is key for lower GHG emissions. Irrigation optimization is the most important mitigation strategy to reduce water scarcity impact. However, actions to reduce these two impacts should be executed side by side to avoid shifting burdens between the two.
Highlights
Coffee is one of the most widely grown and traded cash crops in the world with over 10 million ha of land devoted to its Responsible editor: Greg Thoma Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Per capita, Finland is the world’s second-leading coffee drink consuming country with an average consumption of 184.9 l of coffee per year per capita (Statista 2015) and is the leading green coffee consumer (Worldatlas 2018)
The water scarcity impact was relatively low for non-irrigated systems in Central America, 0.02 m3 eq/l coffee
On Brazilian farms, irrigation is a major contributor to the water scarcity impact, varying from 0.15 to 0.27 m3 eq/l coffee
Summary
Finland is the world’s second-leading coffee drink consuming country with an average consumption of 184.9 l of coffee per year per capita (after the Netherlands at 260.4 l per year per capita) (Statista 2015) and is the leading green coffee consumer (Worldatlas 2018). Arabica coffee cherries are cultivated at high altitudes either in the subtropical regions with well-defined rainy and dry seasons, e.g. in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil or in Mexico, resulting in one coffee growing season per year or in the equatorial regions with frequent rainfall, e.g. in Kenya, Ethiopia and Colombia. Robusta coffee is grown at much lower altitudes. Green coffee is produced by processing coffee cherries at the site or in the close vicinity. Green coffee is transported to the country of consumption, roasted, packed and delivered to the consumer, who prepares and consumes the coffee drink
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