category of food. On average, their Earth Overshoot Day (in the study area:
August 17, 2020) roughly corresponded to the national result of August 10, 2020
(refer to Sect. 2.1). Households in the corridor required >1.5 Earths to meet their
resource requirements.
• Follow-up interviews – Based on the seven supplementary questions asked, it was
possible to discern the following:
– Q1: What type of crops do you grow, and in what proportion? Coffee was by
far the most frequently grown crop by these farmers, including mainly as a
monoculture crop, but also as part of a mixed crop system that tended to
include up to four primary ‘staple’ crops. Among their main produce was
coffee as well cows and grass, plus sugarcane; followed by lychees, pepper,
and cacao as secondary (and newly introduced) crops.
– Q2: How much do you grow in a year? Farmers produced nearly 3000 fanegas
(or bushels) in 2019 on almost 150 hectares of land. This resulted in approximately 138,000 kilograms or about 14 million pounds, an average annual
yield of almost 1000 kilograms or 10,000 pounds per hectare. Their average
stated annual income from this production was in the area of US$81,000,
or < US$2000 per household, each year.
– Q3: Where do you sell your crops? The top buyer of their produce – purchasing about half of their products – was by far CoopeAgri. However, there were
another 13 buyers.
– Q4: Are you participating in Fair Trade or organic farming? Although most
farmers did not understand what ‘Fair Trade’ represented, they were enthusiastic about fair dealings with others as well as participating in organic farming.
– Q5: Do you use fertilisers or pesticides? They preferred using fertilisers over
pesticides, especially organic fertilisers (manure). The farmers understood the
benefits of using both of these, but also considered harsh chemicals that are
harmful to the environment. They commented that they worked with the Blue
Flag Ecological Program wherever possible. Their use of artificial pesticides
was reduced as much as possible, especially to combat the roya fungus; they
were also cognisant of the need to spray as infrequently as possible in order to
promote soil health.
– Q6: Do you benefit from Payments for Ecosystem Services? This was the least
developed of the responses in the follow-up interviews. Participants often gave
simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers. Those that elaborated on their response sometimes veered off topic or referred to forestation efforts by Los Cusingos or
CoopeAgri. They were largely unaware of any national benefits programme.
– Q7: Have you ever been approached before to complete a survey or an
interview? This final question in the follow-up interviews gauged the level
of ‘exhaustion’ among the sampled participants. Almost a quarter of them
were newly surveyed and had not been previously interviewed. Among those
that had been interviewed before, they mentioned (York University) students
and people from Los Cusingos and CoopeAgri.
6.1 Results for the Corridor
83
August 17, 2020) roughly corresponded to the national result of August 10, 2020
(refer to Sect. 2.1). Households in the corridor required >1.5 Earths to meet their
resource requirements.
• Follow-up interviews – Based on the seven supplementary questions asked, it was
possible to discern the following:
– Q1: What type of crops do you grow, and in what proportion? Coffee was by
far the most frequently grown crop by these farmers, including mainly as a
monoculture crop, but also as part of a mixed crop system that tended to
include up to four primary ‘staple’ crops. Among their main produce was
coffee as well cows and grass, plus sugarcane; followed by lychees, pepper,
and cacao as secondary (and newly introduced) crops.
– Q2: How much do you grow in a year? Farmers produced nearly 3000 fanegas
(or bushels) in 2019 on almost 150 hectares of land. This resulted in approximately 138,000 kilograms or about 14 million pounds, an average annual
yield of almost 1000 kilograms or 10,000 pounds per hectare. Their average
stated annual income from this production was in the area of US$81,000,
or < US$2000 per household, each year.
– Q3: Where do you sell your crops? The top buyer of their produce – purchasing about half of their products – was by far CoopeAgri. However, there were
another 13 buyers.
– Q4: Are you participating in Fair Trade or organic farming? Although most
farmers did not understand what ‘Fair Trade’ represented, they were enthusiastic about fair dealings with others as well as participating in organic farming.
– Q5: Do you use fertilisers or pesticides? They preferred using fertilisers over
pesticides, especially organic fertilisers (manure). The farmers understood the
benefits of using both of these, but also considered harsh chemicals that are
harmful to the environment. They commented that they worked with the Blue
Flag Ecological Program wherever possible. Their use of artificial pesticides
was reduced as much as possible, especially to combat the roya fungus; they
were also cognisant of the need to spray as infrequently as possible in order to
promote soil health.
– Q6: Do you benefit from Payments for Ecosystem Services? This was the least
developed of the responses in the follow-up interviews. Participants often gave
simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers. Those that elaborated on their response sometimes veered off topic or referred to forestation efforts by Los Cusingos or
CoopeAgri. They were largely unaware of any national benefits programme.
– Q7: Have you ever been approached before to complete a survey or an
interview? This final question in the follow-up interviews gauged the level
of ‘exhaustion’ among the sampled participants. Almost a quarter of them
were newly surveyed and had not been previously interviewed. Among those
that had been interviewed before, they mentioned (York University) students
and people from Los Cusingos and CoopeAgri.
6.1 Results for the Corridor
83