Abstract
This case study used anthropological and culture concept methodologies to evaluate the perceptions of sustainable coffee production of the K’Ho ethnic minority in Di Linh district, Lâm Đồng province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Sustainable production is a means of mitigating the increasing impacts of climate change upon the region. The Central Highlands is a major coffee production hub and Di Linh is the largest coffee growing region of Lâm Đồng province. The case study included in-depth interviews with farmers based on open-ended questions and a questionnaire about sustainable coffee indicators. The survey invited farmers to quantify the current status of their social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Our study revealed that the unique, government sponsored development of coffee farms led to fast production rates and quick economic prosperity. But, it also resulted in a prolonged monoculture system of coffee production and high chemical use; causing farm productivity to decline and social, economic, and environmental vulnerability to increase. The K’Ho farmers in a small village are noticing the devastating long-term effects of agrochemicals, but have had some initial success exploring the potential benefits of reverting to traditional farming methods.
Highlights
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after crude oil, and Vietnam is the world’s second-largest producer of coffee
Because of the favorable climate and fertile soils, these regions are known as the production hub for coffee in Vietnam
Many farmers and global organizations have been working to promote sustainable coffee production to increase the resilience of farms to changing conditions
Summary
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after crude oil, and Vietnam is the world’s second-largest producer of coffee. The K’Ho farmers in the province have been growing coffee for many generations since the French introduced the coffee trees in this region. They produced coffee using traditional farming practices without chemicals. Many farmers and global organizations have been working to promote sustainable coffee production to increase the resilience of farms to changing conditions. This includes increasing the biodiversity of farms through intercropping, decreasing reliance on pesticides and fertilizers, increasing shade trees on farms, and introducing natural fungicides and insecticides to combat common pests.
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