Organic Coffee Certification Research Articles

Does State-Financed Organic Coffee Certification Increase Smallholder Farmers’ Income?

Many coffee producers in Indonesia carry on organic certification to warrant their production and processing standards. One of them is Nunggal Roso Farmers Group Association (Gapoktan) which performs state-financed organic certification on their robusta coffee products. This research aims to describe farm activities and organic certification applications on Gapoktan Nunggal Roso and analyze its income and profit in 2020. As many as 60 randomly selected respondents consist of 30 organic coffee farmers and 30 non-organic coffee farmers. The organic certification impacts were analyzed using income and profit analysis and then tested for their differences statistically. These research results signify that coffee farms in the research location which has been undertaken in polyculture with shading trees and intercropping plants do not change considerably by the presence of certification. Besides, also known from the research that the return to family labor in each working person-day of organic coffee farmers is lower than that of non-organic coffee farmers.

KESIAPAN PETANI MENGIKUTI SERTIFIKASI KOPI ORGANIK DI KABUPATEN LAMPUNG BARAT

This study aims to analyze the readiness of farmers, their income, and marketing of certified organic coffee in West Lampung Regency. This research conducted in Sindang Pagar Village, Sumber Jaya Sub-District, Mutar Alam Village and Tambak Jaya Village, Way Tenong Sub-District, West Lampung Regency. The samples of this research were all farmers participating in the organic coffee certification program, 35 farmers totally. Qualitative descriptive analysis used to analyze the readiness of farmers in participating the certification program, quantitative descriptive analysis used to calculate farm income, marketing channels, and marketing margins. The results showed that the farmers were not ready to take part in the organic certification program because there were still unfulfilled indicators. Organic coffee farming income is IDR3,741,918 per ha with an R/C value of 1.74. Coffee marketing in this research area has 3 marketing channels. In marketing channel I farmers sell their coffee to coffee processors, in marketing channel II farmers sell to wholesalers then to exporters, in marketing channel III coffee farmers sell to collectors, then to wholesalers, and finally to exporters. The selling price in the first channel is more profitable for farmers than the second and third channels. Marketing carried out by farmers participating in the certification, namely 18% is sold at the price of organic coffee, and the remaining 82% sold underpriced. In the second and third channels, farmers do not get a premium fee for marketing the coffee products they produce during the certification process.Key words: coffee, certification, farmers, organic.

Indonesian consumers’ awareness towards organic coffee

Organic farming is growing. Consumers’ knowledge of environmental friendly products and consumer awareness of health have caused the market for agricultural products to start growing in Indonesia. Initially, agricultural products were in food crops and horticulture. However, the market growth has resulted in several agricultural products in the plantation sector, such as coffee, which have started the organic coffee certification process. This study aimed to analyse the factors influencing the awareness level of Indonesian consumers towards organic coffee. Respondents in this study assessed 766 samples. Respondents were s elected using accidental sampling technique. Furthermore, the respondent’s data were processed using structural equation model. The results showed that health factors, environmental factors and supporting factors for local farmers had a significant effect on the awareness of Indonesian consumers towards organic coffee. Although some of these factors influenced the awareness of consumers towards organic coffee, the awareness level of coffee consumers towards organic coffee was still relatively low, only 17.89% of respondents were able to show the right organic certification logo.

Is Eco-Certification a Win–Win for Developing Country Agriculture? Organic Coffee Certification in Colombia

According to advocates, eco-certification is a win–win solution to the problem of environmental degradation caused by developing country agriculture, improving both the environmental and the economic performance of farmers. However, these notional benefits can be undercut by the tendency of relatively wealthy farmers already meeting eco-certification standards to disproportionately participate. Using original farm-level survey data along with matching and matched difference-in-differences models, we analyze the producer-level effects of organic coffee certification in southeastern Colombia. We find that certification is associated with changes in farm practices linked to improved environmental outcomes. It significantly reduces sewage disposal in the fields and increases the adoption of organic fertilizer. However, we are not able to discern economic benefits.

Potential Links Between Certified Organic Coffee and Deforestation in a Protected Area in Chiapas, Mexico

This study considers organic coffee certification and deforestation in the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve of Chiapas, Mexico. Land reform, dating back to the revolution, has created a complex context for measuring land use change. The locally improved price of organic production, maintained yield, and plantation growth rate—twice that of conventional producers—raise questions about potential deforestation. While consumers believe organic does not deforest, no measurements are taken during inspection. As communal land privatizes without an established baseline for land use change, improved organic certification inspections are needed to verify good practices and advance forest conservation in the coffee sector.

Heterogeneous motivations for coca growing: The case of an indigenous Aymara community in Peru

Coca is a native bush from the Amazon rainforest from which cocaine is extracted. Growing coca is a profitable activity; however, not all farmers located in the coca-supply areas do so. Little is known about farmers’ motivations for the decision to grow coca and if so, how much to grow. This article evaluates the influence of monetary and non-monetary factors on these decisions. The study is based on a survey of 496 households in an indigenous Aymara community in Peru. The results suggest, for example, that farmers are more likely to cultivate coca when their plots are characterized by flatter agricultural slopes and when in debt. In relation to the scale of coca cultivation, farmers can be classified into two groups. The larger group (73 percent) grows a high number of coca bushes when facing economic hardship; farmers in the second group (27 percent) seem to be more motivated by the potential profits from coca production relative to coffee, the alternative crop in the area. Therefore, the results support the common notion that farmers cultivate coca in accordance with economic need. Nonetheless, non-economic factors also influence the number of coca bushes cultivated and offer an additional opportunity to reduce coca cultivation if explicitly considered in drug-control policies. This research also discusses potential farmers’ responses to different coca-growing reduction strategies. Common drug-control policies such as organic coffee certification, road construction, and education have mixed effects on coca cultivation, depending on the type of coca grower. As such, farmers’ motivations are heterogeneous and the design of effective drug-control policies needs to reflect this.

Organic coffee certification in Peru as an alternative development-oriented drug control policy

Purpose – This article aims to evaluate the effect of organic coffee certification on coca cultivation, based on a survey of 496 members from coffee cooperatives located in the upper Tambopata valley in Peru. Coca is a bush from the leaves of which cocaine is extracted. Design/methodology/approach – The results were estimated using the propensity score matching methodology. Findings – The results suggest that participation in organic coffee certification statistically significantly reduces the scale of coca cultivation. Originality/value – This paper analyses a unique primary data set from a coca-growing region in Peru. The value of this paper is that the results suggest that under specific conditions, such as reasonable high and stable coffee prices, organic coffee certification can be an effective element of drug control policy in Latin America.

Analysis of the cost-effectiveness for ecosystem service provision and rural income generation: a comparison of three different programs in Southern Ecuador

In recent years, new tools for funding nature conservation have been designed. Because poverty is often significant in areas with high biodiversity, the improvement of local livelihoods is frequently considered as a secondary goal of new financing mechanisms besides nature conservation. The buffer zone of the Podocarpus National Park in Ecuador is such a high biodiversity zone. In this paper, we compare the cost-effectiveness and development potential of three different mechanisms to finance nature conservation implemented in this buffer zone, namely (a) an organic coffee label, (b) the Socio Bosque Program, a nationwide payment scheme for private forest conservation, and (c) FORAGUA, a regional water fund. This paper describes the functioning and the scope of the mechanisms and analyses their environmental and socio-economic impacts which are compared to the total costs. Results show that the water fund has the highest additionality in ecosystem service provision, while the payment scheme is the most cost-effective both for current as for increased ecosystem service provision and for extra rural job creation. Organic coffee certification has the highest positive impact on rural income creation.

Does eco-certification have environmental benefits? Organic coffee in Costa Rica

Eco-certification of coffee, timber and other high-value agricultural commodities is increasingly widespread. In principle, it can improve commodity producers' environmental performance, even in countries where state regulation is weak. But eco-certification will have limited environmental benefits if, as one would expect, it disproportionately selects for producers already meeting certification standards. Rigorous evaluations of the environmental effects of eco-certification in developing countries that control for selection bias are virtually nonexistent. To help fill this gap, we use detailed farm-level data to analyze the environmental impacts of organic coffee certification in central Costa Rica. We use propensity score matching to control for selection bias. We find that organic certification improves coffee growers' environmental performance. It significantly reduces chemical input use and increases adoption of some environmentally friendly management practices.

Does Eco-Certification have Environmental Benefits? Organic Coffee in Costa Rica

Eco-certification of coffee, timber, and other high-value agricultural commodities is increasingly widespread. In principle, it can improve commodity producers’ environmental performance, even in countries where state regulation is weak. However, evidence needed to evaluate this hypothesis is virtually nonexistent. To help fill this gap, we use detailed farm-level data to analyze the environmental impacts of organic coffee certification in central Costa Rica. We use propensity score matching to control for self-selection bias. We find that organic certification improves coffee growers’ environmental performance. It significantly reduces chemical input use and increases adoption of some environmentally friendly management practices.

Serve and Certify: Paradoxes of Service Work in Organic-Coffee Certification

In this paper I argue that certified-organic inspection agents play a key role in reworking transnational organic-product certification standards to the unique conditions found within Mexican (Oaxacan) organic-coffee producer villages. First, I document the steps through which transnational product-certification norms, under the International Organization for Standardization guide 65 rubric, are codified as practical standards by organic-product certifying agencies. These standards are found to embed contradictions between inclusiveness and transparency that lead to difficulties in field-level implementation: in essence, practices required to make organic production legible to transnational certifiers often have the opposite effect of making certification unintelligible at the village level. Second, I show how field-level certification inspectors, working under contract to certifying agencies, cooperate with village organic extension agents to make certification legible both to villagers and to transnational certifiers (thereby helping to ensure its success). A corollary methodological argument is made to the effect that the importance of field-level work becomes evident when inspectors are viewed—through the optic of labor-process ethnography—as ‘interactive service employees’. This work thus points to a need to understand with greater clarity how standards are enacted in local contexts and support the efforts of field-level workers with the often-difficult task of making standards legible.