Productive efficiency of specialty and conventional coffee farmers in Costa Rica: Accounting for technological heterogeneity and self-selection

Do farmers benefit from participating in specialty markets and cooperatives? The case of coffee marketing in Costa Rica

Paleoclimate in the spotlight

weather and an increase in rare extreme events will have a negative effect on coffee production and the millions of farmers and their families which depend on the crop for their livelihoods. Most of these smallholder farmers live on the edge of viable existence, and any unpredictable change in circumstances can push them into poverty. " In a separate effort supported by Earthwatch, the Institut...

The Effect of Risk, Ambiguity and Coordination on Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change: A Framed Field Experiment By Francisco Alpizar, Environment for Development Center, Tropical Agricultural and Higher Education Center, Costa Rica

The risk of loses of income and productive means due to adverse weather associated to climate change can significantly differ between farmers sharing a productive landscape. It is important to learn more about how farmers react to different levels of risk, under measurable and unmeasurable uncertainty. Moreover, the costs associated to investments in reduced vulnerability to climatic events are...

Forest bolsters bird abundance, pest control and coffee yield.

Efforts to maximise crop yields are fuelling agricultural intensification, exacerbating the biodiversity crisis. Low-intensity agricultural practices, however, may not sacrifice yields if they support biodiversity-driven ecosystem services. We quantified the value native predators provide to farmers by consuming coffee's most damaging insect pest, the coffee berry borer beetle (Hypothenemus ham...

Karaoke in Costa Rica: A Multidimensional Approach to Study Abroad

This case study was conducted to determine the benefits of a multi-dimensional study abroad program that included a community service component. It encompassed the following aspects of the study abroad experience: motivation for travel, language learning research, the role of autonomy in language learning, and cultural awareness, behaviors, and attitudes. The researcher acted as a participant a...