THREE ESSAYS ON THE ECONOMICS OF SUSTAINABLE COFFEE SYSTEMS

Coffee offers a unique opportunity to promote sustainability as this production system integrates economic development, social inclusion, and environmental protection. The first chapter of this dissertation assesses the impact of smallholders’ participation in a novel business model called the Relationship Coffee Model. The second chapter evaluates the economics and ecology of shade-grown coffee, a production system regarded as environmentally sustainable. The third chapter considers the crucial role of cooperatives, and trust and reciprocity among its members. Overall, chapter one provides evidence of a sustainable business model connecting smallholders with high-value chains and stimulating the use of agro-ecological practices. Chapter two shows that under the appropriate market conditions, smallholders receive benefits from bird and forest conservation, facilitating a sustainable interaction of human and natural systems. Chapter three concludes that propensity to trust and reciprocate among members of the same cooperative is higher but only when the length of membership in the cooperative is considered. Moreover, gender inclusion and education play an important role in improving trust and reciprocity. Taking together, the three chapters suggest that, making coffee a fully sustainable agricultural product is an attractive strategy to overcome the current challenges of the coffee industry globally