Green Coffee-Growing Techniques Buffer Climate-Change Impacts

Ann Arbor, MI (AHN) - University of Michigan researchers say shade-grown Latin American coffee will act as a buffer against the tide of climate change in the coming decades.

In an effort to increase production of coffee in Latin America, many coffee farmers have abandoned the traditional shade-growing technique over the last three decades. Many areas of farming acreage have been converted to "sun coffee" by thinning or removing the canopy, according to a statement from the University of Michigan.

Traditional shade-grown coffee farms provide many benefits like boosting biodiversity by providing a haven for birds and other animals. Shade-grown farms also require less synthetic fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides than sun-coffee farms.

UM researchers have found that shade growing also shields coffee plants from extreme weather events, like droughts or severe storms. Climate models show that extreme weather events will increase in coming decades as a result of increasing levels of heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas build up, according to the statement.

"This is a warning against the continuation of this trend toward more intensive systems," said Ivette Perfecto of the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment, one of the authors of the study, in the statment. "Shaded coffee is ideal because it will buffer the system from climate change while protecting biodiversity."

The research appeared in the October issue of the journal BioScience.