With every curu espresso you drink we transform 81cm2 of land

With every curu espresso you drink we transform 81cm2 of land
Our farmers produce over a ton of green coffee beans per hectare of land that they farm, which translates into around 863kg of roasted coffee per hectare. 1 espresso = 7G of roasted coffee.
 
THE MATHS
The proportion of a hectare of land needed to create an espresso can be calculated by dividing 7g (0.007kg) by 863kg. Multiply that proportion by the number of square centimeters in a hectare, which is one hundred thousand, and you get 811cm2 of land used to create an espresso.


But because it's not enough to plant a tree, the tree has to be looked after and grow too, we can't claim all the positive effects happen straight away, so we count the 10 years it takes an agroforest to mature. That means we divide the 811cm2 by 10. We won't sell more than 863kg of coffee per hectare of land farmed in partnership withso that your impact stays measurable.
 
In detail:
1 espresso = 7grams roasted coffee
7grams roasted coffee = 8.4 grams green coffee
At least 1040kg of green coffee is grown per hectare of land (often double this)
1040 kg is 1,040,000 grams
8.4 grams / 1,040,000 grams = the proportion of a hectare of land needed to grow an espresso = “P”
There are 100,000,000 square centimeters in a hectare = “H”
P x H = the area needed to grow an espresso
P x H = 811 sqcm
Divide by ten because it takes us this long to grow our agroforests
= 81 sqcm of earth changed per cup

If agroforestry is so great, why isn't all coffee grown like this ❓

👉🏼 Uncertainty
For farmers land is business, so the focus is usually to generate the biggest profit. Monocultures are usually the best strategy to maximise profit.
👉🏼 Complexity
Managing trees, shrubs, and crops together demands new skills and a deeper understanding of plant interactions, requiring more expertise to manage.
👉🏼 Less developed markets
In a landscape dominated by coffee monocultures, your coffee buyer will pick your coffee up from your farm door and transfer money to your account for it. For other products of your agroforest you need to find buyers and probably also deliver your products to them. More risk, more hassle.
👉🏼 Lack of support
There are various state and private support programmes for monocultures but for agroforestry there are none, at least in the area where we are working. Not just that, but there are even bureacratic hurdles, such as the requirement to register any native tree you plant with the state forestry commission (Instituto Estadual Florestal). You don’t have to do this if you’re planting non-native trees.
💡Our Impact
We focus on agroforestry with diverse native trees to grow nature positive coffee that supports coffee farmers in the face of climate change challenges.
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