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Grounds for Collaboration: A Model for Improving Coffee Sustainability Initiatives

Smallholder coffee producers are the foundation of the specialty coffee industry and are currently facing a set of challenges that threaten the sustainability of the industry. Movement towards a more sustainable specialty coffee sector requires strong collaboration between interdisciplinary researchers and industry stakeholders to develop research projects and interventions that address critical social, economic, and environmental threats to the industry. To improve upon past sector initiatives it is essential that cross-sector collaboration better incorporate and center coffee farmers’ voices, which have often been absent from top-down interventions. This article describes one such collaboration, which investigated agronomic and market system needs of the Guatemalan smallholder coffee sector. We conducted participatory interviews with 33 coffee producers and 22 non-producer key informants, and used mixed-methods analysis of the interview data to better understand the key challenges facing smallholder coffee producers in Guatemala. The following factors emerged: pests and diseases, climate change, price, labor, nutrient management, market access, yield, nurseries and transplants, and technical assistance. Cross-sector, interdisciplinary collaborations that directly address these areas would directly improve the long-term sustainability of the coffee industry by reducing pressures currently limiting specialty coffee production. This research framework can also serve as a model for others interested in conducting interdisciplinary, cross-sector research.