Organic coffee is a new growing method that many small and large-scale coffee growers are starting to practice recently. The term organic refers to things that have lived and are now dead and are now decomposing. Inorganic is the exact opposite and refers to substances that never have lived such as minerals and salts. There are many things that have to be taken into consideration when certifying coffee as “organic” so there are guidelines that have to be followed. Things like fertilizer must be 100% organic such as cattle and chicken remains, coffee pulp, bocachi, and compost. If inorganic fertilizers such synthetic nitrogen, phosphate, and potash are used, then the crop grown cannot be certified organic.
Organic, fair-trade coffee, while a more expensive yet sought after alternative to nonorganic “unfair” coffee, still leaves the majority of its producers living at or below the poverty line. In the coffee industry, required certification fees and under-developed infrastructures of countries where organic and fair-trade coffee is produced mix to create economic problems.
USDA certifying agents travel to coffee production sites and certify them as organic according to US standards. The Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) focuses on the production of the product rather than on the quality of the product itself. OFPA regulates such things as the use of chemicals on the product and how the product is handled throughout the production process. Although use of chemicals on the product is discouraged within three years preceding the harvest of the product, certain exemptions can be made. This means that not all USDA certified organic products are necessarily free of chemical residues. Former vice-chair of the U.S. National Organic Standards Board, also referred to as NOSB, states, “Organic labels are not statements regarding the healthiness, nutritional value, or overall safety of consuming such products” (Liu 333). [1]
The primary producer and exporter of organic coffee is the South American nation of Peru.[2] Mexico and Ethiopia are also major producers of the coffee. According to the center for Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education in Costa Rica (CATIE), 75% of the world's organic coffee comes from Latin America, and that 10% of growers have reverted to conventional production due to price competition.[3]
In order to be sold as organic coffee in the U.S. it must gain organic certification and meet the following requirements:
Organic agriculture stimulates the environment’s natural development of disease and pest control. Because much organic coffee is shade grown, large amounts of forest may be preserved. This preservation has many additional benefits: minimizing soil erosion, preserving habitat, especially for birds; further, the leaves from the trees and bird droppings naturally fertilize the soil. Birds also control pests by eating insects that eat the leaves of coffee plants.
According to the article “Organic Farming in the Small Holder Farming Sector of Zimbabwe,” small-scale farming has a huge positive impact in helping the poor soils into healthy, coffee producing soil because of the natural nutrients in the fertilizers (8)[4]. Organic coffee helps soils even though, “1/3 [of] farmers had problems obtaining organic fertilizer[s]” (9)[5]. The major problem poor countries have is they don’t have enough money or resources to bring in mass amounts of biological fertilizers to help their coffee grow. This has a direct relation to the prices of organic coffee because even though they don’t need to buy fake fertilizers, they still need fertilizers to help grow faster, better coffee. According to Joni Valkila, author of “Fair Trade Organic Coffee Production in Nicaragua -- Sustainable Development or a Poverty Trap?,” says that prices farmers get for their coffee may vary drastically (3021)[6]. This holds true because some farmers don’t have to haul the fertilizers very far and some have to travel many miles to obtain it. This can cause a problem for small-scale farmers because they can’t compete with the large-scale growers because they struggle to pay their workers minimum wage (3023)[7].
Organic fertilizers are a huge factor in dictating whether coffee can be certified organic. In the same article, “Organic Farming in the Small Holder Farming Sector of Zimbabwe,” it addresses the issue about organic fertilizers and states, “Organic fertilizers improve the soil by lowering bulk density, reducing soil erosion and improving soil fertility” (9)[8]. This means that farmers are not only growing healthy coffee, but they are putting vital nutrients back into their soils to help the next crop. The coffee plant has a vital nutrient it produces — coffee pulp. Coffee pulp is the outside of the plant that can be salvaged and returned to the soil as an organic fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the major nutrients that coffee plants need so by using the coffee pulp, cattle manure, bocachi and compost, and chicken manure and biogreen, farmers are able to supply those essential nutrients to the plant cheaper (Valkila 3021)[9].
Prices of organic fertilizers vary depending on the farmer. Prices are made of up of labor such as transportation, collection, prep time, etc., so it’s cheaper if the fertilizers are closer to the growing site. If a site was far away, it would be more expensive because the fertilizers would need to be hauled a further distance, resulting in more fuel consumption and labor time. On the contrary, buying organic fertilizers is cheaper because there is no importing of inorganic fertilizers. Inorganic fertilizers are used frequently for inorganic coffee growing, but it doesn’t put back essential nutrients into the soil because it doesn’t have the ability because it’s fake. All it does is supply counterfeit nutrients to the plant, not the soils. Organic fertilizers are cheaper in the long run because they replenish lost nutrients in the soil and thus helps future generation organic coffee plants (Valkila 3021)[10].
The problem influenced with organic fertilizers is, “there is poor synchronization of nutrient availability and crop demand, as organic fertilizers release their nutrients slowly and not necessarily at the times when nutrients are required by crops” (Valkila 3021)[11]. This means that growing organic coffee is slower because the nutrients take time to get released and thus slowing the growth rate of the plant. Using inorganic fertilizers permits faster growing of the plants because it is modified to sustain a larger yield. Inorganic fertilizers can be more expensive because they have to be bought, and can’t be recycled like cattle or chicken manure. Even though it has to be bought, farmers are able to use less inorganic fertilizers because they are more concentrated than organic, but the organic helps the soils in the long run and is healthier (Valkila 3021)[12]. Even though organic fertilizers are less expensive than inorganic, consumers see a higher price with organic coffee. Tilottama Chatterjee, author of “Organic Coffee Benefits” informs that, “supporters of organic grown foods and producers… feel that this is a small price to pay for the betterment of the environment” (2)[13]
The term fair trade refers to a movement towards fair pricing so as to accommodate the economic needs of both producer and consumer “fairly”. Fair trade also includes and effort to diminish poverty and support the ethical treatment (fair wages, good working conditions) of workers (Merriam-Webster). As opposed to “free trade” where producers can get caught struggling to attempt to produce more product due to a drop in prices, yet still fail to bring in enough income to stay afloat, fair trade agreements ensure prices that will keep the coffee industry successful and profitable. Gerardo Arias Camacho, a Guatemalan coffee producer explains, “’I believe that my cooperative would be out of business if it weren’t for fair trade. Free trade is not responsible trade. When prices go down, farmers produce more and prices drop further’”(Dixon).[14]
With a per capita income of $1,126, Nicaragua is ranked as the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and an estimated 46% of the country’s population lives on $1.15 per day. The unemployment rate stands at 8%, yet 65% of Nicaragua’s population is employed by informal means, thus spawning the issue of underemployment. Lack of enforcement concerning property rights also presents the problem of deterring foreign land investments. This keeps Nicaragua’s economy from easily expanding and on a very limited and two-dimensional scale ("Background Note: Nicaragua") [15].
In the midst of these current circumstances regarding Nicaragua’s economic situation, organic coffee remains one of the country’s biggest exports. Yet despite this fact, 71.3% of organic coffee producers and 68.6% of fair trade producers live below the poverty line. Being USDA certified also necessitates increased production costs. Higher-priced product due to USDA certification and fair trade agreements minus increased production costs makes for a profit that is not significantly greater than that of conventional coffee growers (Keating) [16].
The Organic Trade Association reported that organic coffee imports to the United States and Canada dramatically increased by 29% from 29,484 tons to 36,741 tons between the years of 2006 and 2007. Between 2007 and 2008, organic coffee imports increased to 40,370 tons, a growth of 12%. Most of these imports were also sold within the United States and Canada.
Due to organic coffee’s higher value (it has the greatest value of any organic import in North America) than that of conventional coffee, it only takes up approximately 3% in volume of North America’s coffee market, yet it’s piece of the market concerning value is slightly greater than that of conventional coffee. Organic coffee accounts for about one-third of all U.S. organic beverage sales ("The Market for Organic and Fair-Trade Coffee")[17].
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