Today, coffee is cultivated in more than 80 countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia. There are about 25 million farming families that depend on the production of this commodity, and about 100 million people involved in its production and processing. 80% of produced coffee is traded internationally, its export value amounts to $33.4 billion and retail sales are estimated to surpass $100 billion.
The demand for coffee is steadily growing, too, by 2.5% a year, and emerging economies such as India might further change the current production-consumption landscape.
These numbers reflect a powerful industry. Yet coffee producers at the source are sunk in poverty and remain highly vulnerable to the current effects of climate change, such as droughts or drastic changes in rain patterns. They also have to cope with variable coffee prices, which sometimes go below cost of production.
People, profit and planet
Today, more than ever before, the industry has to put special attention into addressing the social and environmental challenges that the coffee industry faces. A coffee sector that truly benefits all the actors in the supply chain has to commit to sustainable production as the first step.
The International Coffee Organization acknowledges that the world coffee industry is facing major challenges from climate change. Prolonged droughts, raised temperatures and heavy rains make coffee production seasons unpredictable; and pests and diseases, such as coffee rust, tend to easily proliferate. Furthermore, studies predict that the number of areas currently suitable for coffee will decease substantially by 2020.
The sustainable production of coffee stands on three pillars: people, profit and planet. When talking about people, we refer to producers, their workers and their families; gender equality, wages and schooling are key aspects in this pillar. When talking about profit, a sustainable approach will call on rewarding financially sustainable production by the industry, and also refers to the adoption of the best agricultural practices by producers to assure higher yields at lower costs. The third pillar is planet: without taking care of natural resources and their restoration, our economic systems will fail.
Coffee production depends intrinsically on natural resources such as fresh water and rich soil. Not taking care of the environment, therefore, jeopardises the entire coffee sector, which is already threatened by climate change.
It’s all about water
In a world where only 1% of freshwater is available for human consumption, it is striking that a single cup of coffee uses 140L of water in its production. Moreover, coffee production generates a great amount of wastewater that is regularly released, untreated, into rivers.
Coffee wastewater is an environmental and economic problem that leads to social conflicts. It contaminates superficial and underground water resources, upon which rural communities depend for drinking water. It also acidifies soil, and poses a direct threat to aquifers, and aquatic fauna and flora. The untreated wastewater also generates a great amount of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide and methane.
Since economic activities depend on the availability of natural resources such as water, when wastewater is discharged untreated into rivers, downstream communities are directly affected. This not only causes health problems, but also social unrest among downstream and upstream communities.
Wastewater and solid waste represent a quarter of the pollution caused by waste from the coffee. The rest is pulp, mucilage and husk. Traditionally, coffee pulp has been dumped in streams, leading to a significant increase in biochemical oxygen demand, increased water temperature, generation of odors and loss of visual quality. It is a form of severe water pollution in the harvest season, and when the pulp is left untreated, the soil’s pH level is affected, meaning plants can dry out, and flies emerge, causing plagues that affect livestock.
There is no doubt, then, that if we want to talk about sustainable coffee, coffee production has to use water efficiently, and polluted water from the wet-mill process must be treated.
Wastewater treatment in Central America
Latin America produces around 70% of the world’s coffee and is where 31% of the world’s freshwater resources are located. Yet over 70% of water used in Latin America is returned to rivers without being treated.
UTZ Certified, a sustainable certification programme for coffee, cocoa and tea, launched in 2010 the Energy from Coffee Wastewater project in Central America. Tailor-made coffee wastewater treatment systems and solid-waste treatment mechanisms were installed in eight coffee farms in Nicaragua, ten in Honduras and one in Guatemala.
The project consisted of running coffee wastewater through an anaerobic biodigester or anaerobic reactor, which produces the biogas methane, able to generate energy and electricity. At the same time, a water treatment system was put in place so that clean, treated water could be reintroduced into the environment.
The Energy from Coffee Wastewater project has been implemented in a range of small, medium and large farms, and has proven that is possible to generate energy, tackle climate change and protect water resources by treating discharges from coffee mills.
The archived results of the project range from preventing local deforestation of native trees to better indoor environments for families who replaced firewood with domestic gas stoves for cooking. The project has helped prevent the release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and reduced water usage by 50%.
Key to the success of this endeavour was the building of the biodigesters locally, using material and equipment produced in the region. The objective was to choose a system that was cost-efficient, and easy to operate and maintain. The costs of setting up the project are still, unfortunately, unaffordable for smallholders and medium-sized mills; external support was funded by Dutch organisation Hivos and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
UTZ Certified is currently introducing the Energy from Coffee Wastewater technology among smallholders in Peru and Brazil, and hopes to get further funds and the industry’s support to replicate the initiative in Africa and Asia. It also envisions raising awareness among coffee traders, governments, NGOs, certification standards and producers in order to make coffee production as environmentally sustainable as possible.
Sustainable production
Certification initiatives for sustainable production have been in existence for 20 years, and certified coffee production has grown by 26% a year from 2008 to 2012. However, there is a discrepancy between the high amount certified coffee production and the lower amount of certified sold coffee. In 2012, 40% of coffee globally was produced in conformity with a voluntary standard, but only about 10% was sold as standard compliant.
Sustainable production looks forward to a world of better lives for farmers, where future generations have access to a clean natural environment and education.
The sustainable production of coffee is positive for all the actors in the supply chain: it is a way to guarantee supply in the coming years by making sure producers are doing well, and by reducing hidden costs related to environmental degradation. It is also a mechanism to innovate, since new alternatives to adapt and mitigate climate change have to be developed. Additionally, by sourcing sustainable ingredients, companies market responsible products while positioning themselves among consumers. Behind a single cup of coffee, there are rivers, mountains, farmers and unpredictable weather patterns, all of which rely on global sustainability to exist in harmony.
Certified sustainability
UTZ Certified is a programme and label for the sustainable farming of coffee, cocoa and tea. Its mission is to create a world where sustainable farming is the norm. The UTZ Certified programme enables farmers to learn better farming methods, improve working conditions and take better care of people and the environment.
The programme includes requirements for managing water in the coffee industry, for which farmers must put
in place a water-quality analysis and monitoring programme, so that corrective actions can be applied when needed.