Issues: Health

Coffee, Conservation, and Commerce in the Western Hemisphere
How Individuals and Institutions Can Promote Ecologically Sound Farming and Forest Management in Northern Latin America

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VII. TABLES

Table 1: Coffee Area as a Function of Technology Level in Selected Countries of Northern Latin America (thousands of hectares)
Country Technology Level Total Coffee Area Percent Technified
Country Traditional Intermediate
Mexico 64.9 489.7 114.4 669.0 17
Costa Rica 10.8 54.0 43.2 108.0 40
El Salvador 152.4 0.0* 13.2 165.6 8
Guatemala 110.1 85.6 49.3 245.0 20
Honduras 30.0 100.0 70.0 200.0 35
Nicaragua 53.0 14.0 27.1 94.1 29
Dom. Republic 77.2 0.0* 25.8 103.0 25
Haiti 30.6 0.0* 3.4 34.0 10
Colombia 357.3 n/s 791.9 1149.2 69
Total 886.3 743.3 1138.3 2767.9 41.1**
*figures are probably greater than 0.0; no reliable data on intermediate technology level available
**average for region, calculated from regional totals; average of countries' technified area is 28.1% n/s=information not supplied
Sources: Mexico-FAO Production Yearbook (1991) and Nolasco (1985); Costa Rica-correspondence with Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (1993); El Salvador-correspondence with Patricia Valdivieso of the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café (1993); Honduras-correspondence with Fundación Banhcafé (1993); Guatemala-correspondence with Anacafe (1993); Nicaragua-Gariazzo (1984); Dominican Republic-personal communication with World Bank economist/coffee expert Panos Verangis (1993); Haiti-estimated from information from USAID (1990); Colombia-Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (1993)


Table 2: Coffee Production Since 1950 in Northern Latin America
(thousands of metric tons)

1950* 1960** 1970*** 1980 1990 % Change 1950-1990
World Total 2222 4268 4262 5039 6282 183%
Mexico 63 157 182 228 440 598
Central America 189 341 428 605 680 260
Costa Rica 23 59 82 106 151 557
El Salvador 74 114 139 183 156 111
Guatemala 57 108 125 179 202 254
Honduras 13 28 39 71 118 807
Nicaragua 19 27 38 59 43 126
Panama 3 5 5 7 10 233
Caribbean 107 136 121 134 139 30
Cuba 31 37 29 21 27 -13
Dominican Rep. 27 44 44 58 59 119
Haiti 35 35 31 39 37 6
Jamaica 3 2 2 2 1 -66
Puerto Rico 10 15 12 12 13 30
Trinidad/Tobago 1 3 3 2 2 100
Colombia 352 468 483 740 845 140
Northern Latin American Total 711 1102 1214 1707 2104 196
*1948-52 average;**1961-65 average; ***1969-71 average
Source: FAO Production Yearbook (various years)


Table 3: Relationship Between Arable Land, Permanent Cropland, and Coffee Area, 1990 (in 1000s of hectares)
Country Total Arable Permanent Cropland Perm. As % of Total Arable Coffee Area Coffee as % of Perm. Crop.
Mexico 23150 1560 7 669 43
Central America 5459 1435 26 755 53
Costa Rica 285 244 86 95 39
El Salvador 565 168 30 173* 100
Guatemala 1400 485 35 244 50
Honduras 1610 210 13 144 69
Nicaragua 1100 173 16 74 43
Panama 499 155 31 25 16
Caribbean 4512 1685 37 298 18
Cuba 2608 722 28 100 14
Dominican Rep. 1000 446 45 103 23
Haiti 555 350 63 34 10
Jamaica 207 62 30 6 10
Puerto Rico 68 59 87 46 78
Trinidad/Tobago 74 46 62 9 20
Colombia 3900 1520 39 1000 66
Northern Latin American Total 37021 6200 17 2722 44
*figure exceeds the "permanent cropland" figure, not an uncommon observation in FAO statistics.
Source: FAO Production Yearbook (1991)


Table 4: Coffee's Contribution to Total Exports (in trade value) in Northern Latin America, 1965-1993 (expressed in percentages)

1965 1975 1985 1990 1993
Mexico 5.9 6.8 2.3 1.4 0.94
Central AM.*
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
 35.6
41.7
50.6
49.6
17.5
18.4
1.0
 22.2
19.6
32.9
26.3
19.4
12.8
0.8
 41.2
34.1
66.7
39.4
22.2
43.6
4.9
 26.1
16.8
46.1
26.8
19.5
21.0
4.4
 18.0
10.1
30.9
20.0
15.8
13.2
2.2
Carribean






Cuba
Dominican Rep.
Haiti
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
Trinidad/Tobago
 --
16.8
--
0.3
--
0.4
 --
4.9
18.1
0.4
--
0.2
 0.6
12.6
21.5
1.3
--
0.1
 0.5
6.3
15.8
0.8
--
0.1
 0.84
4.98
13.43
1.87
--
0.04
Colombia 63.8 45.8 49.1 21.0 16.21
*Average for Central America does not include Panama in the calculation.
--data not available.
Source: FAO Trade Yearbook (various years)


Table 5: Number of Farms and Small Producers in Coffee
Country Number of farms Number of small farms Small farms as percentage
Guatemala 43,352 34,000 78
El Salvador 43,779 34,569 79
Honduras 38,800 37,881 98
Nicaragua 17,483 14,924 85
Costa Rica 65,000 55,250 85
Panama 30,742 29,000 94

Central Am.: 239,156 205,624 (average) 86

Colombia 302,945 223,574 73
Mexico 280,333 274,835 98
Note: "small" defined as farms under 10 ha. in Central America and Mexico, and under 12 ha. in Colombia
Source: USAID/ROCAP, 1981; Colombian Coffee Federation document, 1991; INMECAFE Coffee Census, 1992


Table 6: 1983 NRDC Analysis of Green Coffee Beans with More Precise Techniques for Pesticide Residue Detection
Origin of Bean Pesticide Detected Amount Detected (ppm) Detection Limit Tolerance (i.e., legally allowable level)
Colombian BHC
Aldrin
DDT		 0.001
0.001
0.002		 0.001
0.001
0.001		 None
None
None
Guatemalan BHC
Lindane
BHC		 0.002
0.003
0.002		 0.001
0.001
0.001		 None
None
None
Brazilian BHC
BHC
Lindane
BHC
Aldrin
DDE
DDD
DDT
Chlordane		 0.008
0.002
0.003
0.003
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.012
0.009		 0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.005		 None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
Haitian BHC
BHC
DDD
DDT		 0.001
0.001
0.001
0.019		 0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001		 None
None
None
None
Source: Shelley A. Hearne, Harvest of Unknowns: Pesticide Contamination in Imported Foods (New York: Natural Resources Defense Council, 1984).

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