The Embedded Agroecology of Coffee Agroforestry: A Contextualized Review of Smallholder Farmers’ Adoption and Resistance

Background

Agroforestry crops are known to provide many benefits to both people and nature. Implementing agroforestry practices can be complex and requires improvement in certain regions and practices. Coffee agroforestry is not widely adopted and there is a lack of knowledge about the implementation of agroforestry techniques for coffee production.

Goals and Methods

The authors conduct a literature review including coffee production in Colombia, Malawi, and Uganda to understand their perceptions of coffee agroforestry, decisions on implementation, local policies, and capacity to adopt new practices.

Conclusions and Takeaways

Coffee farmers are often influenced by historical knowledge for cultivation practices as well as their personal capabilities. Farmers are often approached by outside individuals and organizations about improving their practices which tends to be less effective. The authors suggest better efforts in approach and tact to working with smallholder coffee farmers on their land use practices. In addition, families are usually motivated by profit and therefore planning long-term finances for changes in practice is necessary for wider adoption of coffee agroforestry.