The David vs. Goliath of coffee production: smallholder farmers vs. plantations

posted at 10:28am, 30 Jul 09 by Whitney [ 0 comments ]

I’ve been thinking about the differences between the smallholder coffee farmers we work with (like the ones I just visited in Nicaragua) and the large plantations (often owned by multinational companies) they compete with.

Definitions are important here. The British Coffee Associatio n says that 70% of the world’s coffee is grown on small farms of less than 10 hectares. The smallholders we trade with own 1-2 hectares of land, farm coffee on it, then sell that coffee to the cooperative of which s/he is a member.

From an environmental perspective, one key difference I noticed in Nicaragua was that smallholders had more shade trees on their property than the plantations we drove by. See my photographic evidence below…

One of the many coffee plantations outside Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Jesus Calero's small farm with lots of big trees shading the coffee

When I enquired, Santiago (our guide from CECOCAFEN) explained that plantations focus on harvesting the most coffee possible to maximize profits. In contrast, the smallholders we visited were proud of the native trees they had growing among their coffee and were trying to gradually increase that shade.

This gives an obvious boost to local biodiversity, as the trees provide habitat for animals, birds, insects, etc. The coffee grows a bit slower and matures at a varied pace, but the farmers tend it carefully and harvest the ripest cherries when they are ready, going back for the others later on. This takes extra time, but means the coffee they harvest is high quality.

All of this said, the reality is that smallholder farmers face constant pressure to clear their land (of both native trees and coffee) to switch endeavours that may offer higher pay in the short term, but also degrade the environment. Raising cattle is a prime example.

Seems like we need to find a way to pay these smallholder farmers for the environmental services they are providing through shade and coffee. What’s that? The costs of environmental degradation aren’t reflected in our current economic system? No! Surely not!

For some excellent commentary on the social and financial benefits of smallholder coffee production, check out this interview with Amen Mtui from our African coffee partner KNCU.

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