Abstract

GUHL, Andrés. Coffee, Forests, and Agricultural Certification in Aratoca, Santander. rev.estud.soc. [online]. 2009, n.32, pp.114-125. ISSN 0123-885X.

Agriculture has drastically transformed landscapes and ecosystems on this planet. These changes alter the supply of goods and ecosystem services thereby impacting human well-being. There are significant environmental impacts associated with modern agriculture and green revolution technologies. This has promoted the development of agricultural production systems that try to reduce the environmental impact and/or improve the well-being of producers. Agricultural certification is one such strategy. This set of management practices promotes agricultural production that simultaneously generates some environmental, social, economic, and quality benefits. Shade-grown coffee production is one of these environmentally-friendly management practices. This paper describes this kind of agricultural production and discusses some of the changes associated with certification as well as the impact it has had on the landscape of Aratoca (Santander). The article also analyzes the differences between certified and noncertified producers. It concludes with some suggestions for the certification process in order to make it a win-win (environment-society) situation for different kinds of coffee growers.

Keywords : Certified Agriculture; Coffee; Colombia.

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