摘要：Coffee is generally grown in areas derived from forest, and both its expansion and management cause biodiversity loss. Sustainability standards in coffee are well established but havebeen criticized while social and environmental impact is elusive. This paper assesses the issueattention cycle of coffee production in India and Nicaragua, including producer concerns andresponses over time to concerns (sustainability standards, public regulations and development projects). Systematic comparison of the socioeconomic, environmental and policycontext in both countries is then used to explore potential effects of sustainability standards.Results show limits, in local context, to relevance of global certification approaches: in bothcountries due to naturally high levels of biodiversity within coffee production systems globalstandards are easily met. They do not provide recognition for the swing potential (differencebetween best and worst) and do not raise the bar of environmental outcomes thoughnationally biodiversity declines. Nicaraguan regulations have focused on the socioeconomicdevelopment of the coffee sector via strengthening producer organizations, while Indiaprioritized environmental and biodiversity conservation. In India, externally driven sustainability standards partially replace the existing producer–buyer relationship while in Nicaraguastandards are desired by producer organizations. The temporal comparison shows thatrecently local stakeholders harness improvements through their unique local value propositions: the ‘small producer’ symbol in Nicaragua and certification of geographic origin in India.Nicaragua builds on the strength of its smallholder sector while India builds on its strength ofbeing home to a global biodiversity hotspot.
关键词：Coffee;sustainabilitystandard;certification;issue-attention cycle;swingpotential;global value chain;governance;ecosystemservices;potential impact
