Upgrading of Lowland coffee in Central America

Wim Pelupessy and Rafael Díaz
Additional contact information
Wim Pelupessy: Development Research Institute (IVO), Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Hooistraat 14, 5025 KE Tilburg, The Netherlands, Postal: Development Research Institute (IVO), Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Hooistraat 14, 5025 KE Tilburg, The Netherlands
Rafael Díaz: International Center for Economic Policy (CINPE), Universidad Nacional, 3000 Heredia, Costa Rica, Postal: International Center for Economic Policy (CINPE), Universidad Nacional, 3000 Heredia, Costa Rica

Agribusiness, 2008, vol. 24, issue 1, 119-140

Abstract: A persistent fall of coffee prices in the 1990s brought the International Coffee Organisation, national governments, and coffee companies to propose the promotion of good quality highland coffee as the exclusive strategy for Central America to neutralize the negative income effects. This implies that cultivation on low- and medium-altitude lands should be discouraged, which means that 60% of the coffee growers and workers will lose their means of subsistence in this region. We have used a combined environmental-global commodity chain approach to question the new common wisdom. In buyer-driven chains, there are different quality attributes to satisfy consumers wants. As most food products, coffee receives quality premiums for both sensorial and non-sensorial credence characteristics. However, mass consumption markets in developed countries are served by powerful downstream roasters with blends that contain a major part of low sensory quality coffees. Market demand and a credence characteristic as the highly rewarded environmental friendliness should both be considered in assessments. This creates opportunities for lowland growers to stay in business and for mass coffee markets to become more sustainable. [Econlit: L660, Q170, Q560] © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/agr.20150 Link to full text; subscription required (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:agribz:v:24:y:2008:i:1:p:119-140

DOI: 10.1002/agr.20150

Access Statistics for this article

Agribusiness is currently edited by Ronald W. Cotterill

More articles in Agribusiness from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().