Abstract
The coffee sector is in a dire need of sustainable transformation. The coffee sector will need to produce at least twice the amount of coffee on half the amount of land by 2050 according to predictions. This is a challenge because Arabica coffee is highly sensitive to climate change, coupled with an unequal power distribution across the global value chain manifesting in low adaptive capacity among coffee farmers. This thesis is a study of the relations that produce coffee, and how changes in these relations transform the space of coffee production. I explore what differences arise in the relations of coffee production and explore the spatial manifestations of these changing relations.
This study concludes that the quality of relations matters. The quality of relations can be assessed by values that manifest in relations producing space. When the quality of relations was marked by authority, disrespect and fear, the spatial outcomes manifested in neglected coffee land, low yielding trees, and low-quality coffee. However, when the relational space of coffee production was marked by care and dignity, the way coffee production was configured shifted, and the following outcomes were observed: 1) recommended adaptation measures were implemented, 2) the volume of coffee produced increased, 3) the quality of the coffee increased, 4) a ‘taste of place’ was established, putting Burundi on the speciality coffee map as a quality product, and 5) the governance of the GVC shifted towards relational governance implementing direct trade, and nested responsibilities for challenges previously faced by farmers alone.
Milda Rosenberg’s research finds that just as with the quality of coffee: the quality of sustainability transformations depends on the quality of relationships. For coffee to adapt to climate change, we do not need to just produce coffee differently, we need to produce ourselves and our relations differently. Her research suggests that successful adaptation in the coffee sector requires personal, systemic, and technical changes simultaneously to transform coffee production.