In a world of often negative news for the environment, here’s something good, and it’s about coffee! You’ve probably heard the news that coffee production has been facing big challenges due to the warming climate.
Researchers and Starbucks have been working to develop climate-resistant arabica coffee trees, the most popular variety. But industry advisors say that’s not going to be enough to save coffee. Instead, it may require changing the whole industrialized coffee farm model.
“We need to bring coffee back to its forest roots,” says Monika Firl, senior advisor for Fairtrade International’s coffee program.
For the coffee industry to survive long-term, it’s going to take working with nature. And, of course, that approach could be applied to many other things we grow. It’s a paradigm shift in our modern way of thinking about agriculture, but it has incredibly ancient roots.
Growing Coffee in the Shade of Trees
A team of primate researchers from Oxford led a study that combines agriculture with conservation for a win-win.
They found that growing coffee in areas with 30% canopy cover from trees helped maintain the biodiversity of plants and animals. Animals of all kinds, as well as important pollinators, benefit. But, of course, it also helped the coffee. The plants benefitted from the shaded microclimate, enjoying natural pest control and better soil quality.
It all adds up to better-quality coffee while helping nature. So, what’s not to love?
No Forests, No Coffee
Importantly, the team of researchers pointed out that growing crops in the shade would be redundant without a priority to preserve natural forests at the same time.
“The study shows the benefits of shade-grown coffee, and we are keen to promote the benefits,” said the study co-author, Professor Anna Nekaris. “However, this can only be done on the understanding that further destruction of forests for any form of agriculture will render the value of shade-grown coffee entirely redundant. Our focus now should lie in conservation and how we can optimize productivity alongside biodiversity.”
Video about shade-grown coffee in Kenya by Growing Small:
Ancient Roots of Agriculture
Growing coffee in areas with trees to provide shade is how these plants thrive. It keeps the plants out of the scorching sun while maintaining biodiversity. But this is not a new idea. Such agricultural practices have worked for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples grew food while also protecting the forests.
For example, scientists are finding that the ‘Lungs of the Earth,’ the Amazon rainforests, developed through ancient human agricultural practices long before European conquests. Indigenous peoples cultivated trees and other plants in a layer of soil called the Terra Preta.
To make it, they burned leaves and various organic matter, including shards of pottery. By adding broken shards, the soil was better aerated and may also have introduced beneficial microbes and fungi.
Video by Echoes in History about Terra Preta:
Living in ‘Garden Cities’
The Terra Preta, or ‘dark earth supersoil,’ holds so much carbon that scientists consider it an important carbon reservoir to sequester greenhouse gases. Thus, it helps counter the effects of climate change. Over thousands of years, the resulting forests eventually became the Earth’s lungs.
It all came about as people lived closely with nature in a way unlike the modern world. As we live separated from nature, our way of life destroys the forests and has rapidly altered the climate. To return to balance, we need to change our worldview.
“The logic that has ruled the Amazon for thousands of years is the exact opposite of what is the dominant one today. The Indigenous worldview does not differentiate between the domain of culture and the domain of nature,” said Archeologist Eduardo Neves.
New technology like LiDAR radar is revealing interconnected ancient human settlements in the Amazon. Surprisingly, they have found long-lost civilizations with conical pyramids and well-planned irrigation canals and reservoirs. Dubbed ‘Garden Cities‘ by Florida archaeologist Michael Heckenberger, these settlements may have been one of the “main cradles of plant cultivation in the world” with incredible agrobiological diversity.
Ancient Builders of the Amazon by NOVA PBS:
Today, modern indigenous groups are still making the Terra Preta, fertilizing their crops with ashes in areas that wouldn’t otherwise grow. And some coffee growers today are using Terra Preta methods to improve their crops.
Combining the ancient practices of enriching the soil and cultivating trees for shade could mean we’ll all enjoy coffee for generations to come. But the practice could be applied much more broadly. Modeling agricultural practices to work with nature rather than against it could help save many important plants and animals. And possibly, returning to ancient gardening and conservation methods might help save us all.
See more about the ‘Garden Cities’ of the Amazon below:
Featured image: Two-tailed mermaid via Wikimedia Commons with coffee tree via YouTube