Can coffee certification schemes increase incomes of smallholder farmers? Evidence from Jinotega, Nicaragua

Pradyot Jena, Till Stellmacher and Ulrike Grote
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Till Stellmacher: Leibniz University Hannover
Ulrike Grote: Leibniz University Hannover

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2017, vol. 19, issue 1, No 3, 45-66

Abstract: Abstract This paper investigates the impact of Fairtrade and organic certification on household income of smallholder coffee farmers in the Jinotega Municipality of Nicaragua. Using a sample of 233 coffee farming households and employing endogenous switching regression model and propensity score matching method, the results found that Fairtrade and organic certification standards have different effects on the certified farmers; while Fairtrade farmers had experienced yield gains, organic farmers had the price advantage. However, the overall impact of these certification standards on the total household income is found to be statistically not significant. While some of the Fairtrade-certified cooperatives have used the social premium in creating community-level infrastructure, there is a need for more investment. The major constraint the organic-certified farmers face is lack of availability of adequate organic inputs such as manures and organic herbicides.

Keywords: Fairtrade certification; Organic certification; Coffee farming cooperatives; Nicaragua; Endogenous switching regression; Propensity score matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-015-9732-0

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