Abstract
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide and is consumed by approximately one-third of the world’s population. More than 80 developing countries have earned foreign currency from coffee. Coffee production systems vary from multi-strata agroforestry systems to full-sun monocultures. This literature review aimed to explore the benefits of agroforestry coffee production systems, in which coffee trees are planted together with forest trees, fruits, and timber trees. The question of whether coffee trees benefited from shade trees has not been clear for more than a century. Yield potential, competition for water and nutrients, and perceived lower economic performance compared to high-input monoculture coffee systems are central issues in this controversy. However, various case studies provide evidence that the economic performance of coffee agroforestry systems is equal to or better than that of unshaded plantations and/or plantations with higher input levels. Additionally, agroforestry systems provide several ecosystem services that might help sustain the production of multiple crops, improve farmers' livelihoods, and conserve biodiversity. In the face of climate change and the resulting rainfall decline and increased fluctuations in temperature extremes, tree shade appears to be an important climate adaptation coping strategy for smallholder farmers. Thus, shade can reduce the ecological and economic vulnerability of resource-poor smallholder farmers. Because of the long periods involved in tree growth, our understanding of agroforestry systems will be restricted if it depends only on experimental data. One way to improve our understanding and integrate scattered knowledge on coffee agroforestry is by using process-based models. Therefore, for the effective prediction of coffee growth dynamics, future research should integrate modeling that bridges gaps and can set the development of quantitative models predicting the growth and production of coffee.
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