The efficiency and scale of modern agriculture are due in large part to monocultures. Breaking down the word "monoculture" reveals its definition, literally a single (mono-) cultivation (-culture). The classic monoculture example is the seemingly endless rows of wheat stretching across the American Midwest. Monoculture farms specialize in growing a single type of plant, which doesn't seem unusual in a modern context but is vastly different from the way that nature has operated for all of previous history. Species of plants and animals naturally intermingle, creating a web of life that consumes and nourishes itself. To us, however, this web was inconvenient, so we untangled it. We straightened out our rows of plants, pruned away pesky weeds, and killed all the intruders. The tone of this article might imply that monocultures are "bad", but that would be naïve and simplistic; monocultures feed the world. The monoculture system does, however, have many significant drawbacks we must consider. Honeybee is concerned with this issue because humans have implemented this system with countless crops, and coffee is no exception.

In the coffee industry, monoculture farms look similar to the endless rows of wheat I described earlier. Neat lines of carefully planned coffee trees stretch for acres, making the growing and harvesting processes as simple as possible. Historically, coffee has grown in the shade of a tree canopy, but hardier varieties can withstand the direct sun. On relatively flat farms, the neat rows allow large mechanized harvesting machines to pick at an incredibly fast pace compared to hand picking. The machines essentially vibrate the coffee plants, knocking the cherries loose and catching them in plates and pipes. Even if the farm does not use heavy machinery, pickers can use a derricadeira, a handheld machine, to shake the cherries loose onto tarps or canvas stretched under the tree. The primary benefit of a monoculture farm is its efficiency for the farmers that can afford the machinery.

Monoculture coffee farms do, however, have many agricultural side effects. Without the discretion of hand pickers, the machines often collect over- and under-ripe cherries which can affect the quality of the end product and damage the trees in the process. Monoculture farms are also extremely vulnerable to infections as all of the plants are either identical or closely related. Clustering similar plants together make it easy for pests, fungal infections, and diseases to spread quickly, potentially devastating a farm before there's a chance to fight back. Genetic diversity offers plants a chance to resist these infections, but if one slips through on a monoculture farm, it means all of the plants are susceptible. Furthermore, growing the same type of plant for years on a piece of land damages the soil and makes it less productive. Soil provides nutrients for plants, and all plants thrive on different combinations of nutrients. Monocultures repeatedly pull the same nutrients from the soil, not offering the soil a chance to replenish itself. The damaged trees, vulnerable plants, and depleted soil result in excessive pesticide, fungicide, herbicide, and fertilizer use. All of these chemicals are more costs incurred by the farms just to keep their trees alive and productive. Monoculture farms are also susceptible to storm damage and soil erosion. Tree canopies, the tallest layer that would exist above coffee trees, act as a protective barrier against heavy rains and high winds, common problems in the hurricane-prone coffee growing regions. Smaller plants such as shrubs and grasses also help with soil cohesion, preventing it from getting washed away by runoff. Monoculture farms deliberately remove these upper and lower layers of plants, opening the farm up to potential damage.

Although beautiful, algae blooms can be devastating to aquatic plant and animal life.

Coffee farms are located along the equator between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the belt around the Earth that supports some of the largest biodiversity on the planet. Monoculture farms jeopardize this biodiversity by directly or indirectly killing off local species. The most obvious threat to the local environment is that farmers clear-cut forests to make room for coffee trees. These clear-cut areas at one point likely supported hundreds of different species of plants and animals but were replaced by one. Indirectly, the chemicals required to maintain a monoculture farm are often an environmental disaster. Nitrogen run-off from fertilizers can destroy aquatic ecosystems. Excessive nitrogen will fuel an algal bloom. The algae will then consume most of the oxygen in the water, choking everything else in the surrounding area. Pesticides can also deplete the insect life in the area, leaving nothing for local birds and animals to eat. Coffee farms are often located in the migratory paths of birds, but if there is nothing to eat along the way, and no tall trees to nest in, the birds may die or choose not to migrate altogether. Both outcomes have significant negative impacts on local ecosystems and biodiversity.

Monocultures can also have important economic effects to consider, especially in developing nations. In the context of a national economy, "monoculture" has a slightly different definition. Rather than a farm growing a single crop, in this situation, a country essentially grows a single crop. Many coffee producing nations depend heavily on the income from exporting coffee beans. Take Burundi for example, a small country in East Africa. A massive 34% of their export income comes from green coffee. If something were to happen to their ability to grow coffee, such as a drought or plague, the entire country would be devastated. Recently, coffee was the top agricultural export for twelve countries, nearly all of which are developing nations. A lot of countries and workers depend on coffee for their existence, but the rise of monoculture farms makes this situation exceedingly precarious. Yes, immediate productivity will likely increase as systems and farms are streamlined, but all of that efficiency counts for nothing if a single disease can wipe out an entire farm.

A shade-grown coffee farm. The coffee plants are the middle layer with the oval shaped leaves. Notice the differences compared to the wheat field.

Surely the situation isn't hopeless, so what are our options? Fortunately, there are some, although each comes with its own difficulties. The fact of the matter is that more and more people want coffee, but there's only so much room to grow it. Monoculture farms attempt to address this issue through maximum land efficiency but at sometimes dramatic cost. One alternative is to return to traditional coffee growing methods, namely shade-grown. Shade-grown coffee farms incorporate dozens of local plants into their farms, providing an overhead canopy of trees to insulate the coffee from the sun and extreme weather, and a layer of undergrowth to help fertilize and protect the soil. The mixture of plants also encourages thriving native ecosystems. Of all types of agriculture, shade-grown coffee farms likely support the largest amount of biodiversity, providing homes for hundreds of species of native animals. One shade-grown coffee farm in Mexico supported 184 different bird species. This intermingling reduces the number of chemicals needed to support a farm. Falling leaves will fertilize the soil, birds will eat the insects, and the diversity protects from rampant infections. So why doesn't everyone farm this way? Likely because it's labor and land intensive. Shade-grown farms are unsuitable for mechanized harvests, and a lot of the land area is dedicated to growing plants that can't be sold at a profit. The reduced efficiency results in higher prices for consumers, although at Honeybee we see this as a fair tradeoff. We purchase beans sometimes 6 times higher than commodity price because they come from ethical farms devoted to sustainable coffee agriculture. It can be a harsh reality, but ethical coffee is not cheap, and it is increasingly more important to know the source of your beans.

Please take the time to know your coffee source. Millions of people work everyday to make coffee available to you; make sure they’re taken care of.

It is our hope that the higher price of coffee will translate into thriving and more diverse economies in developing nations. Coffee requires pretty particular conditions to grow, meaning that it can't be grown everywhere. In some ways, this is a blessing, as it limits how much area can be devoted to what is a non-essential crop. That might sound like a controversial take from a coffee company, but it's the truth. Coffee is a luxury good, and it provides no calories to those that consume it. A country cannot feed its citizens by growing coffee, but its profitability is often irresistible. This means the profit from coffee has to be used to purchase consumable food. If we pay enough for our beans, countries can make enough money from coffee to feed its citizens and have some left over. This leftover can then be invested in other types of food farms or better national infrastructure. Quality of life for coffee farmers and citizens alike will go up, making the world a better and more equitable place. It might seem silly to think that paying a few extra bucks for a cup of coffee can change the world, but when you multiply that by the millions of cups drank each day, the effect adds up and has real-world implications for the millions of people that grow and pick our coffee beans.

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Author: Alex Wuethrich