Revisiting the “thin months” – a follow-up study on the livelihoods of Mesoamerican coffee farmers

Smallholder coffee farmers in Mesoamerica face formidable challenges, including highly variable coffee prices, increasing climate change impacts, and worsening outbreaks of pests and diseases, which contribute to chronic debt and food insecurity. Despite these difficulties, the results of a recent follow-up or longitudinal survey show improvement in key aspects of farmers’ livelihoods, though there is an urgent need to continue working with farmers on these issues. The findings point to promising strategies for enhancing livelihoods, including carefully selected crop diversification practices to improve food security; site-specific instead of blanket recommendations for improved agricultural management and livelihood diversification; access to affordable financing and training in financial literacy; and other education and training programs for farmers

Livelihood and environmental trade-offs of climate mitigation in smallholder coffee agroforestry systems

This book reviews the state of agricultural climate change mitigation globally, with a focus on identifying the feasibility, opportunities and challenges for achieving mitigation among smallholder farmers. The purpose is ultimately to accelerate efforts towards mitigating land-based climate change. While much attention has been focused on forestry for its reputed cost-effectiveness, the agricultural sector contributes about ten to twelve per cent of emissions and has a large technical and economic potential for reducing greenhouse gases. The book does not dwell on the science of emissions reduction, as this is well covered elsewhere; rather, it focuses on the design and practical implementation of mitigation activities through changing farming systems

Livelihood and environmental trade-offs of climate mitigation in smallholder coffee agroforestry systems

In this chapter we examine interactions and trade-offs between climate mitigation, farmer livelihoods and environmental conservation for smallholder coffee agroforestry. Smallholder coffee systems are relevant to climate mitigation because they cover a considerable land area worldwide, which frequently surrounds forests that also contribute to climate mitigation (Jha et al. 2011; Perfecto and Vandermeer 2008; Schroth el al. 2009)