How does buying shade coffee help small coffee farmers?
Most farms that grow shade coffee are small (less than 10-12 hectares). Often these farmers rely on the secondary crops produced among their coffee plants to supplement their income and diet. Shade trees can provide fruit, fuel wood, and other side crops. In addition, shade coffee plantations may require less than 5% of the chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are often used with sun coffee plantations. Thus the farmers and their families get less exposure to chemicals over the course of their lives.
