German companies must do more to eliminate abuses in coffee cultivation. Misereor is calling for this on behalf of the "True Cost Alliance" in view of a new study by the Technical University of Nuremberg. Using the examples of Honduras and Uganda, the study analysed the extent to which ecological and social follow-up costs arise in coffee cultivation that are not yet included in the sales price. The study will be presented on 11 February at the world's largest organic trade fair "Biofach" in Nuremberg.
The study was conducted as part of the "True Cost Alliance" project, in which Misereor is working together with the TMG Think Tank for Sustainability and the Technical University of Nuremberg on methods for recording the "true costs" of agricultural and food systems.
Great hardship despite hard work
Their results show: Coffee cultivation incurs considerable external costs, i.e. ecological and social damage that is not covered by the price paid by the purchasing companies. The environmental impact costs amount to an average of around 7.20 US dollars per kilogramme of green coffee and are mainly caused by greenhouse gas emissions, soil and water pollution and health risks during production. In addition, there are social follow-up costs of between 0.45 and 1.60 US dollars per kilogramme. These result in particular from low incomes, unsafe working conditions and deficits in education, healthcare and social security. As a result, many coffee farmers are unable to earn a living income despite their hard work.
All in all, the reasons mentioned above result in a true total cost of between 7.67 and 8.82 US dollars per kilogramme of green coffee in Uganda and Honduras. This means a corresponding loss of prosperity for the economies of these two countries.
Balance sheet with "sustainability memory"
To cover the "true costs" of coffee cultivation, it is not an acceptable and realistic solution if these are borne by consumers through significantly higher prices, says Wilfried Wunden, an expert on fair trade and the "true costs" of food at Misereor. Instead, the study suggests that companies include a "sustainability memory" in their accounting and create provisions for the hidden costs. In other words, companies should take fair production conditions in coffee cultivation into account in their calculations from the outset.
"The global South is currently meeting global demand, but at the same time has to cope with the extreme social and ecological damage mentioned above," emphasise Lennart Stein and Benjamin Oebel, who conducted the study at Nuremberg Institute of Technology.
Sustainable products can become cheaper
At the same time, the authors see a need for political action. More transparency and reporting obligations could help to promote sustainable production methods and avoid competitive disadvantages. This could result in long-term sustainable effects: "Non-sustainable products would become more expensive, while sustainable alternatives would become relatively cheaper," says Wunden.
However, this goal can only be achieved if appropriate political guidelines for corporate accounting are introduced.
