Forestry funds have traditionally focused their resources on afforestation and reforestation as well as the production of timber and timber products. It isn't so common for forestry funds to choose projects that, besides trees, also incorporate crops. That can soon change, as there is a new investment opportunity, which may just be gaining momentum.
Starbucks, the largest U.S. coffee chain, announced last week that climate change could severely affect the world's coffee supply and, thus, put your morning caffeine fix in jeopardy. In an interview for The Guardian, Starbucks sustainability director Jim Hanna said: "What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road - if conditions continue as they are - is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean."
Hanna further explains that hurricanes, resistant pests, mudslides and soil erosion are causing significant decreases in crop harvest in coffee farms across Central America, where most of Starbucks' crop suppliers are located.
Unfortunately, Starbucks aren't the only ones, who are seeing the alarming trend regarding the future of the drinkable black gold and one of the world's most traded commodities. According to the Smithsonian, a study based on 7,000 farmers in Mexico and Central America predicts that global warming trends will shrink coffee supply by as much as 30 per cent by 2050.
There is, however, a simple solution, which, if not reverse, may at least slow down theeffects of climate change on world coffee supplies, and that solution is agroforestry. The method of agroforestry combines crop planting with species of trees, which mutually help each other grow, especially in severe environmental circumstances.
Agroforestry isn't a new phenomenon on coffee plantations. A report by the U.S. nonprofit and independent research organisation Resources for the Future, claims that, in 1998, 95 per cent of El Salvador's coffee was shade grown. And the benefits of shade-grown coffee seem to be pretty promising.
During research conducted in Sumatra, the World Agroforestry Centre observed that, while coffee does not have to be grown inside a forest, shading the bushes with trees protects coffee plants against too much sun. In full sunlight, the Centre claims, coffee plants get exhausted by their rapid bean production, while in the shade, they produce their fruit more gradually. At the same time, the lifespan of the bush is extended, prompting it to produce more coffee in the long run.
Moreover, the slower ripening of berries caused by tree shading is found to have positive influence on the flavour of coffee. There is also reduced weed pressure in coffee agroforestry plantations, because coffee is more shade tolerant than weeds are.
Trees are known to protect the topsoil and to facilitate the formation of soil organic matter. Certain leguminous tree species enrich the soil with nitrogen by obtaining it from the air and making it available in the soil. Coffee plants then use the nitrogen to grow and mature. Shading also provides for what the Centre calls "microclimate" similar to that of the forest, reducing the risks of disease and insect attacks.
Another report by The American Phytopathological Society explains that agroforestry systems "could also modify pests and disease incidence compared with monospecific plantations."
Probably the most comprehensive research was conducted by experts from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. By reviewing more than 50 studies on shade-grown coffee farms in regions ranging from Central and South America to Indonesia over the past 15 years, experts concluded that shade-grown coffee production had significant advantage to sun-grown coffee farms. Here are some key findings:
? Agroforestry increases soil carbon, soil nitrogen and enzyme activity - all essential for soil fertility and plant health. Nitrogen-fixing trees in shade-grown coffee can put up to 100 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare per year into the soil, potentially reducing the amount of fertilizer a farmer would have to apply by 25 to 30 per cent.
? In Venezuela, sun coffee systems suffered twice the soil loss from erosion compared to shaded systems.
? In Nicaragua, the carbon content in the soil (an indicator of soil fertility) of shaded coffee was found to be 18 per cent higher than that found in coffee with little or no shade.
? Soil moisture in sun coffee farms is 42 per cent lower compared to coffee farms that have leafy foliage as canopy.
? Agroforestry creates a hospitable environment for richer biodiversity, including bird species. A study in Guatemala found that birds can reduce herbivorous insect presence on coffee from 64 to 80 per cent, and excluding birds from coffee plants resulted in greater insect damage to coffee leaves.
? In a study in Jamaica, researcher excluded birds and saw a 70 per cent increase in the proportion of coffee fruits infested with the Coffee Berry Borer, coffee's most damaging insect pest.
Considering the above findings, why aren't more forestry funds investing in agroforestry coffee plantations? These mixed systems have all the benefits of forests in terms of land value, timber production and carbon sequestration, but they also incorporate the added financial benefits that come from growing coffee.
As most forestry funds have come to learn by now, project diversification in terms of geographic location and types of species planted is important for mitigating the risks associated with investing in forestry. Adding coffee crops to already existing forests, or vise versa will not only contribute to reducing investment risks. It might just be the solution to saving your steaming cup of coffee.
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