SHADE-GROWN COFFEE

A Glossary for Birders

David L. Gorsline

Introduction to glossary | What's a birder to do | Coffee-related resources

Alternative trade. See fair trade.

Arabica. One of the two primary taxa of coffee, Coffea arabica, has about two-thirds of the world market. Worldwide, coffee has at least 24 varieties (with exact classification a matter of debate). By contrast with robusta coffee, arabica shrubs thrive at higher elevations in a cooler, drier climate. Arabica beans are generally considered to produce better quality, more flavorful results. Colombia is a major producer. Two important, traditional varieties of the species are Bourbon and Typica (Spanish típica).

Backbone tree. The predominant canopy species in a shade-grown coffee farm.

Beneficio. The mill that performs the processing of coffee cherries to produce green coffee beans.

Bird-friendly. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has trademarked this term to describe environmentally sensitive coffee grown under defined criteria, including a shade spectrum or shade gradient. Among other things, the criteria state a minimum percentage of shade cover, exclude certain genera as backbone trees, and promote diversity by limiting the proportion of Inga trees in the canopy. Buffer zones and living fences are encouraged, while removal of epiphytes is discouraged. At present there are about a dozen companies adhering to this particular certification.

Building on the concept of a gradient, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has used the following criteria to select coffee to be labeled "Bird-Friendly":

• recommended minimum of 10 species of shade trees, no more than 70 percent of Inga
• minimum shade cover of 40 percent at noon
• minimum height of 10 meters for backbone trees; some shorter and saller plants mixed in
• limit pruning of shade trees and removal of epiphytes whenever possible
• maintain road and stream buffers

Buffer zone. As it applies to coffee farming, a wide strip of vegetation along a stream to control erosion and runoff. Also, land that intercepts pesticide and fertilizer drift from non-organic fields.

Carbon sequestration. Capturing atmospheric carbon (carbon dioxide) and storing it by one of several mechanisms to reduce this greenhouse gas and its contribution to global warming. Carbon may be stored in living (green vegetation and forests) or non-living reservoirs (soil, geologic formations, oceans, wood products).

Coffee berry borer. Hypothenemus hampei, one of the few insect pests of coffee, and one that is perhaps more troublesome to sun coffee. The insect is called la broca in Spanish.

Coffee leaf rust. Hemileia vastatrix, a fungal disease of coffee, known in Spanish as la roya. Somehow, spores (perhaps from Africa) arrived in Brazil in 1970, and an outbreak occurred in Nicaragua in 1976, panicking the industry. For most of the Neotropics, the rust has not been the threat that was originally anticipated.

Cupping. Analogous to a vintner's wine-tasting: roasting, brewing, and tasting coffee under controlled conditions in order to assess quality. Coffee gourmets judge acidity, aroma, body, and finish.

ECO-O.K. Labeling program co-managed by the Rainforest Alliance, applicable to coffee and other agricultural products. Firms pay a licensing fee to use an identifying logo; they are subject to a "chain of custody" auditing procedure that monitors the flow of product from farm to consumer. ECO-O.K. certification addresses a wide range of issues: fair treatment of workers, community relations, minimizing use of agrochemicals, integrated waste management, and conservation of water, soil, wildlife, and the entire ecosystem.

Epiphyte. Any plant that does not root in soil but rather uses another plant species for support. Among flowering plants, the best-known epiphytes are orchids and bromeliads. In the forest, epiphytes shelter insects vital to the food chain.

Estate coffee. Coffee from a specific defined area under cultivation with common farming practices, intended to yield precise flavor characteristics in the cup. See also varietal coffee.

Fair trade. Promotion of more equitable, less exploitative dealings with producers in developing countries. Sometimes called alternative trade. The fair trade movement is more visible in Europe. In terms of coffee production, fair trade principles stress minimum prices; credit availability; and stable, long-term business relationships directly with farmer cooperatives, avoiding intermediaries or middlemen. Sustainable agricultural practices are of perhaps secondary importance. Finca. Spanish for "estate," a specific coffee farm, either large or small.

S. Zumbrunn/Conservation International This coffee field is at Angel Albino Corzo, Sierra Madre de Chiapas Mexico. Some shade has been removed to make room for coffee.

Gliricidia. A short deciduous tree, a legume, frequently used to supply shade for coffee plants, though not used as commonly as Inga. Because Gliricidia is deciduous, it does not provide cover at a time of year when the canopy for birds may be critical. This legume is probably not as important as Erythrina.

Green coffee beans. Unroasted coffee beans. See processing.

Inga. One of a genus of commonly used shade tree. Inga vera, in particular, is a legume, which provides good shade, and is regularly planted as an overstory tree in structured shade coffee plantations throughout the Neotropics.

Legume. Any of the plants of the order Fabales (including peas, soybeans, and clover) important in nitrogen fixation. Legumes develop bacteria-harboring root nodules; from atmospheric nitrogen, the bacteria form compounds that can be taken up by plants and animals.

Of the genera important as shade trees on coffee farms, Inga, Acacia, Erythrina, and Gliricidia are legumes, while Grevillea is not.

Living fence. For coffee farming, a windbreak of trees and shrubs along a roadway or field to prevent drying-out of the understory.

Modernized coffee. See technified coffee.

Mountain-grown coffee. Readers may remember TV pitchwoman “Mrs. Olsen” who promoted coffee of this sort. The more-favored arabica prefers higher altitudes, and the grading systems of some producing countries account for elevation. The term "high grown" is also used. Generally means coffee grown above 4,000 feet. Associated with a denser, harder, more flavorful bean because the fruits mature more slowly. High-elevation coffee is often shaded by near-constant cloud cover rather than a leafy canopy.

NGO. Non-government organization. Any local, national, or international organization, profit or non-profit, whose members are persons not employed by a government. See the accompanying list of NGOs involved in shade coffee and related issues.

Organic. Produced by an approach that views the farm as an ecosystem. Emphasis is placed on recycling, composting, soil health, and biological activity with the goal of long-term protection of the farm environment. Synthetic chemicals are rigorously avoided.

In accordance with the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is standardizing the use of the label "organic," subsuming various state standards, like those of Oregon and California.

Organically-grown coffee is not necessarily shade-grown, but it usually is. This is because the trees of the canopy provide several necessities to the organic coffee farm, among them leaf litter (which acts as a fertilizer), resident wildlife species that control pests, and the retention of moisture.

Processing. All freshly picked coffee fruits (called cherries) go through several steps before becoming beans ready for the grinder.

For the first step, there are two ways to go about removing the red, fleshy part of the fruit: a fast wet process at the expense of a lot of water and a dry process where the cherries are simply spread to dry in the sun for up to three weeks. Coffee processed the first way is called "washed." The dry process is also called "unwashed," or sometimes "natural."

In either case, the next step is to thoroughly dry the beans and remove the parchment. The resulting green beans can now be accurately graded, and they are usually exported in this form.

The final step is roasting: beans are heated to above 200 degrees C, releasing steam and other gases. The beans lose weight, puff up, and turn a rich dark brown. The chemistry of the roasting step accounts for much of the flavor characteristics of the final product, from mild to espresso-dark.

Roaster. One of the last businesses to handle coffee before it reaches the consumer, the roasting firm may be a large corporation or a specialty business focussing on gourmet or other qualities of the coffee. Roasting is usually done in the importing country; the shelf life of roasted beans is limited.

Robusta. The other primary taxon of coffee, Coffea canephora var. Robusta. (The taxonomy is not clear-cut: some sources use "robusta" to refer to any variety of C. canephora, and some use "robusta" as a species name.) As indicated by the variety name, robusta trees grow taller, are more resistant to pests and disease, and produce more fruits than arabica. The caffeine content of the beans is about twice that of arabica. Considered inferior-tasting, robusta is often used for instant coffee and in supermarket-grade blends. It is grown in Africa and Brazil, but not very much in Central America, and holds the remaining third of the world market.

Shade-grown coffee, shade coffee. A term with no clear-cut definition, generally referring to coffee grown under a natural canopy and to farming practices nearer the "rustic" end of the shade spectrum. But unfortunately, at this time, "shade-grown coffee" can be whatever the seller says it is. A number of organizations and movements are working to establish a standard, enforceable label, among them the Rainforest Alliance’s ECO-O.K. program and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s bird-friendly criteria.

Since coffee grown in the shade is slower-ripening, and often is drawn from vintage cultivars, there is the suggestion that it tastes better, with more complex flavors. (As it is with mountain-grown coffee.) However, the roasting process contributes just as much to the quality of coffee in the cup.

Shade coffee is usually contrasted with sun coffee.

Shade spectrum, shade gradient. The shade-vs.-sun distinction is not black and white. Mexican researchers devised a five-category continuum of management practices to describe the assortment of coffee farms in Latin America. This basic shade gradient has become a familiar centerpiece in discussions on quantifying shade.

(Height estimated in meters; epiphytes and parasitic plants not shown.)

		rustic (rusticano): the least intensified practice; coffee shrubs are planted in the existing forest with little alteration of native vegetation; also the least expensive practice, typically used by small family-owned farms that produce a modest crop of coffee. This is an increasingly rare practice and usually does involve some thinning of the canopy.
		traditional polyculture (policultura tradicional): more managed than rustic coffee, involving deliberate integration of beneficial plants (fruits, vegetables, nuts, medicinal plants, etc.), and resulting in greater species diversity than commercial polyculture (below); the crop diversification helps farmers in years when coffee prices are depressed; in many traditional indigenous systems there is no distinction between wild and domesticated plants and some plants are weeded, tolerated, or encouraged depending on household needs and the season.
		commercial polyculture (policultura comercial): similar to traditional polyculture, but some shade is removed to make room for more coffee shrubs; yields are higher, but some agrochemical inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) are usually needed; generally planted with a distinct backbone species, but more diverse than specialized shade (below).
		reduced or specialized shade (sombra especializada): uses a single, pruned canopy species to provide shade, typically from genera Inga, Erythrina, Gliricidia, or Grevillea; coffee shrubs are planted more densely, and the farm has a manicured look; since the overstory consists of one or two species, its vertical structural diversity is reduced.
		full-sun or unshaded monoculture (monocultura sin sombre): does away with the canopy completely; the unshaded intensively-managed fields are highly productive if given the requisite agrochemical inputs.

Artwork © by Georges Dremeaux; material modified from Nolasco, M. 1985. Café y Sociedad en México. Centro de Ecodesarrollo, Mexio D.F.

Sun coffee. Used to describe coffee that is not shade-grown, and generally used disparagingly—often neat rows of coffee beneath direct sun or scant shade, compared to the fuller canopy of a traditional farm. Some of the production and realted differences between sun coffee and shade coffee are presented below.

R. Mittermeier/Conservation International A forested mountain-side in Brazil gives way to coffee fields, planted in neat rows.

PRODUCTION AND RELATED CONSIDERATIONS

(Adapted in part from the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign)

Sustainable. Here is another term that does not have a widely-accepted definition. For coffee agriculture and resource development, the term implies concern both for laborers' working conditions and for trading practices and land tenure systems that do not impoverish farmers—as well as sensitivity to the environment, minimization of pollution, and independence from non-renewable energy sources. At the intersection of ecology, economics, and politics, sustainability is concerned with the equitable allocation and consumption of resources, now and in the future.

Technified coffee. The word "technification" is a back-formation from the Spanish tecnificación. The practice of technification was spurred by the spread of coffee leaf rust to the New World in the 1970's; technification projects were assisted by the United States Agency for International Development (U.S.–AID). Technification goes beyond the intensive management of shade and shrubs to the application of agrochemical inputs and the introduction of higher-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of coffee that respond well to those inputs.

Estimates, as of 1993, put the percentage of technified coffee acreage at 10 percent in El Salvador and Haiti, 40 percent in Costa Rica, and nearly 70 percent in Colombia.

Varietal coffee. Coffee of a specific cultivar, e.g., Bourbon. More loosely, "regional coffee," that is, coffee from a general area or country, with some common flavor characteristics. Estate coffee comes from a more specific area, while supermarket-grade blends mix coffee of different regions and cultivars.

Washed coffee. One of the two ways of processing, removing the red, fleshy part of the fruit. In washed coffee, the cherries are milled in a tank of water, which washes away the outer pulp and skin, leaving a mucilaginous inner pulp. The fruits are fermented in more water for several hours, and the inner pulp falls away, leaving the beans inside a husk that resembles parchment. At the expense of a lot of water, washing makes it easier to produce uniform, high-quality coffee, but disposal of the wash water is an environmental concern.

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