Coffee Production and Deforestation

            Coffee is the second-most popular drink, and the second most tradeable commodity in the world, with an industry worth upwards of $10 billion. Despite its overwhelming popularity, coffee production is certainly causing damage to the environments in which it is mass-produced in order to fulfill an ever increasing demand. Research has shown that for every cup of coffee that is consumed, one square inch of rainforest is destroyed (Varcho, 2015).

            Coffee production plants have historically been a drastic causation of deforestation, namely in the South American and African regions. Rainforests used to cover 15% of the world’s surface in the 1950s, now only cover 6% of the world’s surface, and the remaining 6% could be destroyed in a matter of another 40 years (Varcho, 2015). Other externalities involved include soil erosion and contamination, and water pollution, largely in part due to the heavy use of pesticide in production.

            The externalities caused by coffee production further extend beyond the burning of rain-forests for agricultural use; these practices severely hurt the biodiversity of the region in which deforestation takes place, and can ruin the local ecosystem. With species of local plant life and animals reduced, and the resulting untillable land after coffee production takes place hurts local citizens who rely on the hunting and gathering economy and having clean, pollution-free water.  

            If these production companies and other stakeholders hold a belief in the utilitarian theory of ethics, they need to come to a solution to stifle the effects of these negative externalities, and increase their awareness of how to halt deforestation, work towards rehabilitating degraded areas and how to maintain a sustainable coffee production landscape (Opitz, 2018).

References

Amanda L. Varcho. (2015). Coffee Production, Deforestation, Soil Erosion, and Water Contamination. Retrieved October 16th, 2019 from https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/a-bitter-brew-coffee-production-deforestation-soil-erosion-and-water-contamination/

Michael Opitz. (March 22nd, 2018). Coffee and Deforestation: Addressing Coffee’s Footprint. Retrieved October 16th, 2019 from https://dailycoffeenews.com/2018/03/22/coffee-and-deforestation-addressing-coffees-footprint/