Abstract
Jamaica's Blue Mountains are heralded as one of the world's premier coffee growing regions. Previous ecological research in Jamaica has demonstrated that shade-grown coffee practices provide beneficial ecosystem services for farmers, yet most coffee farms in the Blue Mountains have very little shade. The socio-ecological factors that influence coffee cultivation choices in Jamaica have not been analysed. Using chains of explanation, the aim of this project was to unearth the political, economic and ecological drivers and constraints that inform and influence farmers' decisions for intercropping shade trees amongst their coffee plants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on farm-sites in the three parishes of the Blue Mountains: Portland, St. Andrew, and St. Thomas. Results from this project reveal that the human-environment interactions of coffee producers are impacted by the interplay of on-farm, on-island, and global forces. This necessitates reframing the value of ecosystem services provided by shade trees into a cohesive argument that resonates with Jamaican coffee industry specialists and the specific regional socio-ecological needs of Blue Mountain coffee farmers. Priorities for change should include: encouraging communities to re-learn the benefits and applications of organic soil fertility and the values of shade trees while exposing farmers to marketing research and strategies for pursuing conservation of coffee niche markets.
Highlights
IntroductionA few years ago Portland Parish coffee grower David Twyman chose to eradicate all bananas and plantain from his 34 ha coffee farm
GOING BANANAS “Placed at the beginning of a political ecological tale, contradictions compel fascinating mysteries worthy of socio-ecological investigation” (Robbins 2011:95).A few years ago Portland Parish coffee grower David Twyman chose to eradicate all bananas and plantain from his 34 ha coffee farm
Jamaican geographer David Barker estimates that approximately 70% of coffee farms in this area were decimated by hurricane Gilbert (1993)
Summary
A few years ago Portland Parish coffee grower David Twyman chose to eradicate all bananas and plantain from his 34 ha coffee farm. Twyman’s banana ban was in part fueled by a desire to remove a crop from amongst his coffee that he never had the opportunity to reap or taste; his plantains were the unspoken common property of his neighbors. Before extirpating the extant Musa species on his farm, Twyman announced to community members that anyone was welcome to take cuttings, suckers or full-grown plants. A crew of machete men slashed banana stalks and applied Roundup as a rapid remedy for fruit tree eradication. Twyman’s neighbors were angry that he had the gall to remove “their” bananas
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