Abstract
This article addresses energy flows in the coffee agro-ecosystems of Costa Rica within the context of the socio-ecological transition, between 1935 and 2010, accounting for the shift from traditional to modern tropical agriculture. Estimating indicators of energy efficiency in crop management makes it possible to analyze the changing productive rationality of growers by studying end uses of all biomass appropriated from coffee agro-ecosystems. Coffee land and labor productivity, as expected, multiplied (by factors of 2.01 and 1.56, respectively). However, considering total biomass produced in coffee agro-ecosystems, productivity did not display such a significant increase. In contrast, all other energy efficiency indicators declined. Final energy return on investment (FEROI) fell from 1.02 in 1935 to 0.51 in 2005. External final EROI fell even farther, from 18.90 down to 1.86. The socio-ecological transition brought about the loss of multifunctionality in the final use of products derived from coffee agro-ecosystems, as new products replaced traditional ones.
Highlights
The study of energy flows in farming, understood in a broad sense, represents an effective and versatile way to describe the major changes that have taken place in agrarian systems during the transition from traditional to modern management approaches, as well as to analyze the environmental problems generated in this process
Divergent methods of determining study boundaries, conversion coefficients, and units of input and output mean that the results reported in the literature are incompatible, generating confusion that makes it hard to draw comparisons (Murphy et al 2011; Aguilera et al 2015)
This article estimates the energy flows detailed in Fig. 1a, summarized as follows: net primary production (NPP) is divided into final production (FP), which is the proportion of production that reaches society and, as a consequence, has a socio-economic use, plus biomass reused (BR), which is the part of the biomass produced that recirculates within the coffee agroecosystem
Summary
The study of energy flows in farming, understood in a broad sense, represents an effective and versatile way to describe the major changes that have taken place in agrarian systems during the transition from traditional to modern management approaches, as well as to analyze the environmental problems generated in this process. Guzmán et al 2017) or organic vs conventional management (e.g., Smith et al 2015) Another approach, from the social sciences and humanities, uses energy flows to study the material foundations and dynamics by which traditional societies were sustained, endeavoring to overcome perspectives that focus exclusively on cultural or monetary concerns. There is some published research about energy balances in coffee production in Nicaragua (Cuadra and Rydberg 2006), Brazil (Giannetti et al 2011a, b; Turco et al 2012; Flauzino et al 2014; Muner et al 2015), and Costa Rica (Marozzi et al 2004; Mora-Delgado et al 2006) These studies all refer to the present day and address the plantation scale, generally comparing the efficiency of organic vs conventional management and excluding the crucial shade layer (SL) in coffee agro-forestry systems. The analysis is ecological and socio-economic, discriminating the end uses of all final products obtained and the commercial ones, with a view to understanding better the growers’ productive rationality, the changes in management, and the changes in the functionality of the products and by-products of an agro-forestry crop during the socio-ecological transition (SET)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
