7 May 2025

5 min read

Shade-Grown Coffee: Supporting Biodiversity and Farmers’ Livelihoods

How scientists and smallholder farmers in Mexico are growing coffee that nurtures both communities and ecosystems.

By Lizzie Bell and Claudia Pando

A set of coffee plants growing under trees

Shade-grown coffee plantations can be powerful allies in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.

The use of native trees can provide habitats for wildlife, protect soil health, and support carbon capture. Utilising native biodiversity in shade-grown coffee plantations isn’t just about environmental benefits either – it must also meet the needs of farming families who rely on coffee for their income.

A man is crouched to pick ripe coffee cherries from the long fruit-covered branches of a coffee plant — A farmer carefully picks ripe coffee cherries by hand, ensuring quality while maintaining the health of shade-grown coffee plants in Veracruz, Mexico © Alejandro Guerrero

Listening to Communities: Understanding Challenges and Needs

Balancing environmental sustainability and economic viability begins with deep engagement on the ground. Over the past two years, we have worked with coffee-growing communities in Veracruz, Mexico, seeking to understand their needs, challenges, and hopes for the future.

Many farmers have shared with us that while they see the value in maintaining shade-grown coffee systems, the economic realities of farming – such as fluctuating coffee prices, limited market access, and the pressure to maximise short-term yields – can often push them towards more intensive, less sustainable practices.

Addressing this challenge requires tailored solutions that make sustainability not just an ethical choice, but an economically viable one.

A group of training participants share discussions in a large open room — Collaborative learning: Women farmers and local partners engage in group discussions during a shade-grown coffee workshop on native tree species selections © Alejandro Guerrero

Building on this engagement, we have been partnering with smallholder farmers in Mexico to balance biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and sustainable livelihoods.

Through inviting direct participation of farmers in the project, we have been sharing knowledge and learning from the local ecological practices of farming communities, recognising the vital role that traditional knowledge plays in sustainable coffee cultivation. By integrating scientific research with local wisdom, we are exploring ways in which coffee can be grown to enhance biodiversity, increase carbon sequestration, and strengthen community resilience.

This collaborative process has not only revealed practical solutions but also highlighted key challenges—insights that now guide our efforts to empower farmers through targeted training and support.

A small group of people are being trained to use some specialist kit while a larger group of onlookers watch from the shade cover of an open building — Learning by doing – Farmers and experts engage in hands-on training building skills to monitor carbon capture and to implement sustainable land management practices © Alejandro Guerrero

Empowering Farmers Through Training and Support

In response to these needs, our team collaborated with local partners to offer a series of capacity-building workshops designed to make both farming and the sale of shade-grown coffee more sustainable and profitable. Throughout the last year, farmers from various municipalities came together in workshops to learn and share:

Sustainable farming techniques – improving soil health, managing shade trees effectively, and enhancing productivity without harming the environment.
Market access and business skills – equipping farmers with tools and strategies to access better markets, set fair prices, and diversify their income sources through specialty coffee or complementary products like honey or cocoa.
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) – ensuring that that everyone, especially women and marginalised groups, can participate meaningfully and reap the benefits of these initiatives.

Three women stand around a counter covered in plants and a computer. One woman is talking to the other two about the contents of a training manual — Engaging with communities: Farmers and stakeholders participate in one of the project’s training workshops, exchanging knowledge on sustainable management practices and biodiversity conservation © Alejandro Guerrero

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI): Recognising Women’s Roles and Challenges

Women in coffee-growing communities are often the primary land managers and resource users, yet they face disproportionate barriers to market access, training and decision-making. A further challenge is unpaid labour – many women carry out household and caregiving tasks after working in the fields, which limits their ability to fully access economic opportunities. Our project has addressed these realities by:

Providing targeted training and mentorship for women farmers, ensuring they have the knowledge and confidence to adopt sustainable practices.
Addressing barriers to market access, helping women gain greater control over income and decision-making.
Encouraging inclusive community leadership, where women’s voices are represented in cooperative and policy discussions.

Our project aims to foster more equitable family and community dynamics, ultimately strengthening local livelihoods. As one workshop participant explained:

“When I come home from the coffee fields, I still have cooking, cleaning, and caring for my family. I appreciate how these workshops highlight the extra work many of us take on as women, and I value the emphasis on women’s empowerment in our sessions.”

A women harvests coffee crop, she is surrounded by the leaved plants and their fruit — A farmer in Veracruz carefully harvests shade-grown coffee, highlighting the vital role women play in land management, production, and economic resilience despite facing barriers to market access and decision-making © Alejandro Guerrero

Real Impact: Tangible Benefits for Farmers and Communities

The impact of these efforts is becoming increasingly visible. Farmers are reporting stronger, healthier coffee plants, reduced reliance on chemical inputs, and improved soil quality, all of which contribute to long-term productivity. Many have also gained greater confidence in selling their coffee at a fair price, thanks to strengthened marketing skills and new business connections.

Beyond individual success stories, the project is fostering a wider transformation. Communities are seeing increased collaboration among farmers, better knowledge and resource sharing, and growing recognition of the benefits of shade-grown coffee.

This sense of collective purpose lays the groundwork for scaling up, allowing others in the region to replicate or adapt these methods.

A woven basket filled with ripe coffee fruit — Freshly picked, ripe coffee cherries from a shade-grown plantation reflect the hard work and dedication of smallholder farmers striving for quality and environmental stewardship © Alejandro Guerrero

Looking Ahead: Building on the Momentum of Shade-Grown Coffee

The foundations laid over the past two years have created valuable momentum. Our hope is that the partnerships we’ve nurtured, the methodologies we’ve developed, and the knowledge we’ve shared will continue to inform and inspire efforts to scale sustainable agroforestry in coffee-growing regions.

We remain committed to sharing our learnings with organisations, policymakers, and businesses that have the potential to support or replicate this approach. The success of shade-grown coffee depends on collaboration—between farmers, researchers, businesses, and consumers.

By building on what’s already been achieved, we can continue moving toward a future where coffee production benefits both people and the planet, making sustainability the norm rather than the exception.

If you'd like to join us in achieving that vision, check out the below resources from our project.

Want to learn more?

For those working directly with coffee-growing communities in Veracruz, our Spanish-language website offers locally tailored resources and tools

Project Website (Spanish)

About the Project

The project ‘Enhancing Carbon Sequestration and Improving Livelihoods in Mexico’s Shade-Grown Coffee Plantations’ is led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Project Lead: Tiziana Ulian, Scientific Project Coordinator: Maraeva Gianella) in collaboration with the seedbank of the Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala (FESI) of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); and Pronatura Veracruz A.C. and in partnership with the Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL); and the Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales of UNAM.

The project is funded by UK PACT Mexico (Government of the United Kingdom), the Emberson Foundation, and the Aldama Foundation, with technical support from the British Embassy in Mexico.