A new Code for coffee - the way forward

On 10 September the Common Code for the Coffee Community (CCCC) was launched in Hamburg, Germany, to encourage sustainability in the green coffee chain and to increase the quantities of coffee meeting basic sustainability criteria within social, environmental and economic standards. Dr Susanne Scholaen, a freelance consultant in the area of agriculture and environment, takes a closer look at the substance of the Code.
Young girl harvesting coffee in Malawi. Photo: FAO/17729/A. Conti

The CCCC is an internationally accepted basis for improving overall conditions in developing countries and marketing opportunities on the world coffee market. Initiated by a public-private partnership between the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Coffee Association (DKV), it is coordinated by the German development agency GTZ(1). It is open to voluntary participation by all stakeholders in the coffee chain at international level that complies with its principles. 

Coffee in context
Coffee belongs to the botanical family Rubiaceae, which has some 500 genera and over 6000 species. All 25 major coffee species are indigenous to tropical Africa and certain islands in the Indian Ocean. The economically most important species of coffee are Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica), which accounts for over 70 % of the world production and Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora). Liberica coffee (Coffea liberica) and Excelsa coffee (Coffea dewevrei) are grown on a much smaller scale. 
    Produced in more than 60 countries, coffee is one of the world’s largest traded commodities. In 2003 more than 101.3 million 60 kg bags of coffee (6.2 million tonnes) were produced worldwide. The most important producers and exporters are Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam. In 2003 the biggest importers of green coffee beans were the USA (1.4 million tonnes) and Germany (1.0 million tonnes)(2). 

Why do we need a Common Code?
The CCCC(3) is a comprehensive approach to reach sustainable production of coffee embracing social, environmental and economic dimensions. The production can only be sustainable if it allows decent working and living conditions for farmers, their families and employees, respect for human rights and labour standards. Protection of environment requires a production system adapted to climatic conditions of the region, good farm management to maintain healthy plants and as little use of agrochemicals as possible. The CCCC is meant to be widely accepted as the standards are based on already existing international agreements and conventions to avoid unacceptable practices. 
Coffee drunk in the West is produced by smallholder farmers in over 60 producer countries. Photo: David Allen

How does the Code work?
The CCCC has been developed in a participatory process, open to all operators active in the global green coffee sector. Participating institutions are producers, trade and industry, civil society, extraordinary members and supporting consultancies. It offers a long-term development perspective to suppliers and establishes a new basis for competition with regard to quality of the product and the quality of sustainable production methods. 
    Participating organisations have to follow a verification system to comply with the requirements of the CCCC. The concept of sustainability is specified in the Code Matrix, which consists of categories, principles and criteria. The categories refer to the main aspects of the production, post harvest processing and trading of green coffee. Principles are positive statements that indicate the desired performance for each of the listed practices. To assess the performance of a Common Code Unit, criteria specify the compliance with the requirements of these principles. 
    A ‘traffic light system’ has been developed to illustrate the concept of continuous improvement.

For example, within the Environmental Dimension there is a ‘Category 2’ covering agrochemicals. This addresses the use of pesticides and minimisation of the effect on human health and on the environment. The criteria are stated as follows:

According to the traffic light system, desirable and not desirable pesticides have been classified. It is a must that all pesticides regulated by the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions should not be used in coffee production. In a world wide survey(4) on pests, diseases and use of pesticides in coffee growing countries all pesticides mentioned by the countries have been listed and classified according to the traffic light system, taking into consideration the WHO Classification(5) system. The major coffee producers surveyed say that 130 different pesticides are used on coffee worldwide. The majority are insecticides, followed by herbicides and fungicides. 
    All production systems and especially highly productive monocultures like many coffee plantations have phytosanitary problems. Generally, the medium and big farms are the more intensive producers. They have higher capacity to spend money on the use of pesticides and fertilisers. Coffee trees suffer from attacks by pests and diseases especially when they are under stress and grown under conditions not suitable for their needs, e.g. lack of shading trees, unbalanced nutrition and lack of water. Weeds are normally a bigger problem in newly planted sites. Diseases can be minimised by improving the plantation management, the use of resistant varieties and by balanced nutrition. The most serious pests on a worldwide level are the coffee berry borer, the white stem borer, scales, leaf miners, coffee bug and mealy bugs. Diseases causing worldwide or locally important losses are coffee leaf rust, coffee berry disease, black rot, brown eye spot, American leaf spot and coffee wilt disease. 
    According to the survey very few countries still use chemicals regulated by Stockholm Convention. Only one country, not belonging to the major coffee producers still permits Mirex for use against termites. In some countries DDT is still permitted for vector control of malaria. Therefore it is available in the market and might also be used in coffee production. In one major coffee producing country monocrotophos has been mentioned, in a minor producing country lindane against white stem borer. Both are included in the Rotterdam Convention; they are unacceptable and their use has to be stopped immediately. A bigger problem is the use of the insecticide endosulfan (WHO classification II) which is still very common in many countries to combat coffee berry borer. CCCC classified it as ‘red’.
    The majority of products have been classified yellow, followed by green and red (see Table 1). Most of the ‘red’ pesticides are insecticides. All pesticides classified Ia and Ib by WHO have been marked red which means they have to be substituted as soon as possible in order to comply with the entry requirements of the code. 

Table 1. CCCC classified pesticides found in major coffee producing countries (4)
Insecticides  Fungicides  Herbicides  Total
Unaccepted  1 1
Red  18  6  8  32
Yellow   34 7   20 61
Green  5  13  18  36
Total  58  26  46  130

Implementing the Code
Now the framework of the Code is ready the next phase will be its implementation. The first step is to inform the sector of this Code on a worldwide level. The Code is still ‘only’ a working document and has to be tested in pilot countries and projects. With the cooperation of partner countries, industry and NGOs it will be possible to develop a more comprehensive approach. Further German public private partnership projects with the coffee sector will all address the implementation of the Code as part of their activities(6). The IUF(7) recognises the positive elements set out in the Code, but stresses, that social and environmental legislation at every level, national and global has to be enforced and that real progress will be achieved when traffic light balance shifts to green. 
    The CCCC is meant to integrate more coffee producers and conventionally producing plantations than organic production could. It encourages more stakeholders – traders, producers and consumers – to support environmentally sound and healthy production. In general, small farmers organised in cooperatives are in a better position to take up organic coffee cultivation than large plantations. The CCCC aims to increase the supply of and demand for coffee on its way to sustainability based on market mechanisms. The mainstream brands have to meet criteria under all three dimensions of sustainability. 
    The International Coffee Organisation (ICO)(8) welcomes the new CCCC which is based on the United Nations principles of economic, environmental and social sustainability. During their annual meeting growers and growers associations expressed their concern that implementation costs might only be shouldered on the growers. Until now the Code includes little commitment for the industry. The final version of the CCCC is not yet completed. Currently, the stakeholders are still discussing the rules of participation and within those the role and commitment of the industry(9).

References:
1. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH Germany, www.gtz.de, coffee@gtz.de
2. International Coffee Organization, 2004, www.ico.org
3. www.sustainable-coffee.com/download/4c-drafts/common-code-en.pdf
4. Jansen A-E, Plant protection in coffee. Recommendations to Common Code of Coffee Community, Environmental Section, Agrochemicals, Report for GTZ, 2004.
5. WHO classes: Ia = Extremely hazardous, Ib = Highly hazardous, II = Moderately hazardous, III = slightly hazardous, U = Unlikely to present acute hazard in normal use, O = Obsolete as pesticide.
6. Eid U, Common Code for the Coffee Community, Sustainability in global production, post harvest processing and trading of mainstream green coffee. Speech by the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, 2004.
7. International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations 2004: International Coffee Code Must Bring Real Changes for Workers, www.iuf.org
8. International Coffee Organisation, press release September 2004. www.ico.org 
9. Pers comm, Fleischer G, Head of CCCC Coordinating project at GTZ.

See also
Lutzeyer H-J, Pülschen L, Compart W and Scholaen S, Recent Developments in Plant Protection for Plantation Crops as Exemplified by Coffee, 1994.

Dr. Susanne Scholaen may be contacted at Tillmannswiese 4, 53639 Königswinter, Germany, email Scholaen@aol.com

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 66, December 2004, pages 8-9]