Coffee has been drunk for many hundreds of years, and has been cultivated for all of this
time. The process of obtaining coffee was only expanded as more people drank it, and
sustainability wasn’t a factor in its production for a long time. However with a number of
pressures exerting themselves on the industry, changes had to be made to create a more
sustainable industry. In recent years, coffee as an industry is one of the few that can claim
to have a global effort made towards sustainability in all factors of its growth and
development.

Background to Sustainability

Coffee production came to a crisis in the early 2000s, and this culminated in the
International Coffee Agreement of 2007. Agreements were made to grow coffee in a more
sustainable way, taking into account economic, social, and environmental factors. All of the
agreements that they implemented were reinforced by Article 26, from Agenda 21 from the
United Nations Conference in Environment and Development. Some of the measures
implemented are better processing for the beans themselves to improve environment
sustainability, maintaining employment in rural areas to improve food security and
economic stability, to work on measures like breeding more disease & drought-resistant
coffee plants.

Part of ensuring sustainable and responsible coffee is beans being grown by farmers which
are members of the Rainforest Alliance. This organisation has been ensuring sustainable
coffee production since 1995, before any other coffee-growing agreements. They train
coffee growers in sustainable growth, that takes care of the land they grow on for future
growth. The aim is to protect families of growers as well as the land itself.

Sustainability moving onwards

Sustainability is still an important part of coffee production globally, and this year has been
no less important. The NCA (National Coffee Association) Convention held in New Orleans in
March had a number of speakers and presentations focusing on sustainable development in
the growth and development of the coffee industry.

One of the initiatives worth mentioning is a “Water Wise Coffee” program, which works
with farmers in Ethiopia to reduce runoff from wet coffee processing. Wet coffee runoff is
often washed into local rivers and water sources, and can be a pollutant – reducing this is
key to sustainable coffee growth, as it ensures the health and protection of the people who
are the key to coffee production – the farmers.

Other methods implemented into the growth of coffee globally is looking differently at the
way the coffee is produced – whereas you might grow crops on a farm normally, an
alternate method that has been explored is growing coffee bean plants in conjunction with
the natural environment. Coffee beans typically grow best in areas that experience lots of
rain, and only grow within 22 N and 26S. Growing plants already-forested areas that fit
these criteria cuts down on damage to the environment, as nothing needs to be destroyed
to grow the beans. This agroforestry system is in stark contrast to the push in previous years

to grow without covers – and provides one of the methods with the most potential for
growing in a sustainable way.

In conclusion

Coffee in 2018 is likely to continue its growth as a sustainable industry moving forward –
with issues such as climate change affecting coffee-growing areas on everybody’s mind
when considering development in the future, it is one of the most important issues that the
industry has to take into account. Consumers can rest assured that it is neither expensive
nor difficult to find sustainable and responsibly-grown coffee.

Works Cited

  • Krishnan, S. (2017, June). Retrieved from
    http://environmentalscience.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.001.00
    01/acrefore-9780199389414-e-224
  • Organisation, I. C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ico.org/sustaindev_e.asp